The Sailor Scouts of Disney: A New Adventure
by MoonlightLace
Summary: After a power up, there is a new face among the Scouts. But this new face isn't what they expected. She's just a girl, who kinda looks like Ariana. Whats worse, is that she keeps asking for the Sparkling Sea Diamond. Follow the Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask, to find out who she really is. This is a continuation of the Sailor Scouts of Disney. (I do not own Sailor Moon, or Disney)
1. Ariana's New Transformation

Derek cleared his throat, and tried to compose himself. "Ariana will you go on a date with me?" He asked.

I was taken aback by the request, but the moment the words left his mouth I was already nodding like a maniac. "Yes" I said over and over again with a giggle.

He couldn't help but laugh at my eagerness. "How does tomorrow afternoon sound?" He asked lacing his fingers through mine, causing an eruption of butterflies to be released in my tummy.

"Tomorrow afternoon?" I asked. As much as I liked Derek, my friends needed me right now. They had just lost their significant others. They were there for me, and now I need to be there for them. "Um.. how does the day after tomorrow sound? It's just that the girls are going through a tough time right now and I want to be there for them you know?"

Derek smiled at me warmly. "Of course. I understand. I don't want to rush you in any way. You are such a good friend, the girls are lucky to have you Ariana."

I knew he meant it. "Thank you for understanding." I placed a small kiss on his cheek."Well I guess I'll see you soon." I grabbed my bag from the back seat, and opened the car door. I got out and Derek lowered the window. I tucked my head in. "Thanks for the ride home."

"Any time." He backed out of my driveway. "I look forward to our date!" He yelled out as he drove out into the night.

I smiled and shook my head as I walked towards the door. I couldn't believe that Derek had asked me out on a date. Did that mean we were official? Oh man I have to tell the Girls and Sebastian.

"Hey mom! Hey Dad!" I said when I walked inside.

"Hey kiddo." My dad waved at me from the couch as he watched a movie. My mother's head on the crook of his shoulder, asleep.

"Cute" I chuckled as I lingered at the doorway of the living room. "I'm gonna go to my room. Call if you need me." and with that I walked up the stairs to my room.

I turned on the lights and dropped my bag. I looked around my room. I felt like I haven't been here in ages. The bed was untouched. I walked over to it and plopped down. I layed on my bed and put on some jazz. As the soft rhythm lingered around the room, I decided to unpack my things. I placed my clothes in the hamper and my toiletries in the bathroom. When I finished, I changed into my pajamas, and lowered down the music. I crawled into bed.

"Welcome home." I heard a familiar Jamaican accent.

I turned my head to voice. "Sebastian!" I jolted up from my sheets.

"I feel like we've been separated for so long" he said crawling over to me. I cupped my hand for him to climb up. When he did so I brought him closer to my face.

"I know! Where have you been anyways?" I asked him. If I recall correctly I haven't seen him since we arrived from the battle with Ursula.

"I was at the cave with the girls and their guardians last night. I made sure no funny business was going on." He said in an authoritative voice, which sort of reminded me of my parents. "Then in the morning when they left, Flounder and I were left to clean."

"They didn't trash the place did they?" I hoped they didn't break anything. The cave held some fragile findings. Like that teapot I found not far from the reef. Or the music box with the porcelain ballerina inside.

"No worries child. They didn't touch anything from your collection. I meant they left pizza boxes and their sleeping bags sprawled over the floor."

I sighed in relief. Good to know that everything is still in tact. "How are they?" I asked him with concern.

Sebastians shoulders hunched. "They aren't bad, but this whole situation seems surreal to them."

I know what they're going through, and let me tell you it is not easy. I placed Sebastian on my pillow and I grabbed my phone. I sent the girls a group message letting them know we should video chat. They all agreed. I grabbed my tablet and began to call them. One by one the girls appeared on the screen.

"Hey" I started.

"Hi Ariana!" Briar Rose waved enthusiastically into the camera.

"Sorry if I'm calling really late, but I just want you girls to know that I'm here for you. Always." I began to say, hoping I didn't sound too cheesy.

"We're alright, honest." Bella smiled. "Sure, it's a little overwhelming but I think we'll be ok. Right girls?"

"Yeah! We all mentally prepared ourselves when the guys told us they wouldn't be staying. So it wasn't entirely hard, but it still kinda sucks." Jade shrugged her shoulders.

"Ariana, thank you for checking up on us. It means a lot." Mags said with a caring tone.

"You girls mean the world to me. You were there when I needed you, and now its my turn." I looked at their faces on my screen. "How about we go for a picnic tomorrow? Get some girl time."

"Yeah, that would be great. I can bring some ice cream. Ben and Jerry's are the men we need in our life right now." Briar Rose commented.

I laughed at her silliness, and then went back to serious mode. "Hey, you do know that the guys really care about you right? I believe them when they said they will find a way back to you."

Bella blushed at the thought. "We know. We believe in them too." She paused for a second. "Anyway's for tomorrows picnic I can make some sandwiches, oh and some pasta salad."

"I'll bring the blanket, plates, and silverware." Mags commented. "Where should we have the picnic?"

"Actually the botanic gardens by my house have some beautiful blossom trees that are coming to bloom. How about we eat there?" Jade suggested.

"Perfect. Then it's settled. We'll meet there around noon?" I looked at the girls and they all nodded yes. "Cool, I'll bring some dessert."

"Then I'll bring lemonade and cups." said Jade.

After planning our picnic we spoke for another half an hour. The girls told me about the night at the cave. They mentioned how relaxing it was to have the ocean waves in the background. They also claimed that the sandy floor wasn't that uncomfortable either. They talked about how they reminisced about the past, and they recalled certain memories. Each of the girls faces lit up when they told their own story. It made me both happy and sad. I just wish there was more I could do. Hopefully tomorrow's picnic would be good for them.

After we said our goodbye's, I turned the light and music off and curled back into bed. I felt Sebastian trying to get comfortable on the pillow beside me. He would huff and puff in frustration. I quietly laughed, hoping he wouldn't hear me.

"Keep laughing Ariana, one day this is going to be you." he said in annoyance. "My shell is getting old."

"Oh Sebastian, you and your shell are not getting old." I turned over to look at him.

He finally found a spot on the pillow and closed his little eyes. "Yeah right." He mumbled quietly. Then one of his eyes opened, as if peeking. They laid on me. "I think what you're doing for the girls is really sweet of you."

"It's what friends do." I told him. He smiled, and fell asleep. I felt groggy myself, and decided it was time for a good nights rest.

The sunlight came through my window, and played around the room. I opened my eyes. I thought about how I should probably get up to make some cookies, but my bed was just so comfortable. I could just lay here forever because I deserved it. I mean come on, I saved the world for crying out loud! Of course, I did have my friends help.

"Ariana those cookies aren't going to bake themselves." Sebastian said from the pillow beside me, his shell facing my face.

"How did you know I was awake?" I sat up.

"Well for one thing the snoring stopped."

"Rude!" I dramatically got out of bed, and ran to the kitchen. I grabbed all the necessary materials I needed for my famous chocolate chip cookies.

Once the dough was made, I folded in the chocolate chips. Unfortunately since I did eat half of the bag of chocolate chips, the cookies didn't look like they had many chocolate chips. I put the cookies in the oven and ran to my room to get ready.

"Please don't tell me you ate chocolate chips as your breakfast." Sebastian mumbled as I walked in.

"Psh what? No." I said making my bed.

"Then why do you have chocolate on the corner of your mouth."

"I'm going to take a shower." I quickly grabbed my things and ran to the bathroom. I turned the shower head on jumped in. The warm water hit my back and caused goosebumps to cover my arms. Water always helped me relax, and now it was obvious why. In my last battle as a Sailor Scout, I had remembered that in my past life, I was a mermaid. How cool is that? I was also the princess of the kingdom of Atlantica. I smiled at the thought of how my past life and my current life have now merged as one.

When I was done rinsing off the conditioner from my hair, I turned off the shower and grabbed my towel. I quickly dried myself off, placed the towel on my head, and changed into a blue skater skirt and a white sleeveless button down shirt.

"Ariana, your cookies are done." Sebastian yelled from my room.

Oh no I hope they didn't burn. I ran to the kitchen as quickly as I could. I then turned off the oven, and grabbed the cookies. They weren't badly burned. I took one off the tray and took a small bite. _Mmmm not bad. _I smirked to myself.

I walked back to my room and got ready.I put my hair in a low ponytail and wrapped a purple ribbon around it. I puffed some body spray and walked out.

"Ok Sebastian lets go." I cupped my hands together for him to climb into. He crawled onto my palms, and I gently placed him on my shoulders.

"You smell like coconuts."

I wafted the fragrance towards my nose. "Thank you Bath and Body Works." We walked towards the kitchen and placed the cookies in a container. We then made our way to the botanic gardens.

Walking towards my destination my phone rang. I quickly grabbed it from my floral bag. Expecting it to be the girls, I was shocked when I realized it was a text message from Derek.

_Good morning _

I must have looked at the screen too long because Sebastian yelled something I didn't catch, but it was too late. I had walked into the pole.

"Ouch!" I cried out as I landed onto the concrete. I grabbed the container of cookies and my phone and stood up. I heard some laughter come from Sebastian, who was tightly holding onto my blouse. "Oh shush, you could have warned me."

"I did, but you were too busy admiring your phone." He looked at me suspiciously. "Who texted you?"

I felt my cheeks burn and I turned my head the opposite direction so Sebastian couldn't see. "No one."

"Ariana..." He began.

I pretended that I didn't hear him, so I began to walk towards the botanic gardens. Of course, Sebastian did not drop the matter. He said my name again. I knew he wouldn't stop until I told him. And honestly I really wanted to tell someone about Derek and I. I couldn't tell the girls just yet, they were going through something too.

I took a breath and said it. "Derek." There was a silence after that. I moved my eyes to see Sebastian. "Sebastian? Are you alright?"

He turned his little head towards me and just stared. After a few seconds he cracked a smile. "Are you two a thing?"

I couldn't help but laugh. I felt confident knowing that Sebastian was ok with Derek and I being an item. "Yeah, we have a date tomorrow." I smiled dreamily. "I really like him."

"Oh child, trust me I can tell." he grinned. "He's good for you, and you two have some long history. Do the girls know?"

I shook my head. "I want to tell them, but I don't know how."

Sebastian nodded in comprehension. "I understand. I'm sure you'll find a way."

We were coming up to the gates of the garden. The scent of flowers danced around the area. I followed the trail that led to the cherry blossoms. After a short walk, I could see Briar Rose playing with the fallen petals. Jade was helping Mags with the blanket, and Bella was holding Flounder in her arms as they continued laughing at Briar. I ran to them holding up the container of cookies.

"Ariana!" they all yelled in unison and ran to me. I embraced them into a group hug. "Can we eat now?" I said once we broke up.

"Leave it to Ariana to ask about eating." giggled Briar, who had pink petals tangled in her golden hair.

"Hey you were thinking it, I just said it." I walked towards the blanket and plopped a squat. The girls followed.

"Alright here are some plates, pass those around." Mags dug around her basket. "And here's the silverware." Mags took out napkins that were wrapped around the silverware and tied with a piece of ribbon.

"These are adorable Mags." Bella complemented.

"Thanks, my grandma helped me with them. She went all out with them."

Jade was taking out the cups and pouring lemonade into them. Bella was opening the container that held the pasta salad, and some sandwiches. I placed my container of cookies in the middle so everyone could grab some. Briar Rose grabbed her cooler and slid the top off. She brought three flavors of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

"Alright girls dig in." Bella said, as she marveled at how cute our picnic was. "Oh you too Sebastian and Flounder."

"Briar will you get me a bit of that pasta salad." Flounder asked. Briar scooped some pasta onto her plate and and then poured it into Flounder bowl.

"Careful Flounder, if you eat fast you won't look like a guppy," I said in between bites.

"You're the one who should be careful. If you keep eating like that, you won't fit into your sailor uniform." Sebastian remarked.

"Why are you so mean to me?!" I wailed at him, putting my sandwich down. All of a sudden we felt a strong gush of wind. It blew all of our plates,napkins, and cups away.

"I sense... something." Jade said.

The girls and I stood up. "Stay on your guard." Sebastian murmured.

I looked around the garden, but nothing was suspicious. Then out of nowhere the sky turned black. "That's impossible, it was sunny three seconds ago." I whispered.

"There's a strange energy present." Jade mentioned, her eye's closed.

"Can you feel where it's coming from?" Mags questioned.

Jade furrowed her eyebrows and tried to focus. Her eyes wiped opened and turned toward one of the cherry blossom tree's. "There!" she yelled.

My eye's scanned the tree, and I could vaguely make out a silhouette of a woman. She looked like a Geisha. Her long lavender dress hiting the branch she was on. I could tell she felt our stare on her, because she looked directly at us. When I saw her red eyes, I knew she was an enemy. She blinked her red eyes, and next thing I knew I was pushed from her line of sight by Briar. "Move Ariana!" she yelled.

I hit the ground hard. I looked at the scene in front of me. The girls were trapped in some sort of forcefield. Cherry blossom petals flew around them. Sebastian crawled over to me and told me to transform into Sailor Sea. I ran behind a tree and yelled '"Sea Trident Power!"

It felt weird being Sailor Sea again so soon. It seems that these fights against evil are never ending. I ran back to the scene with Sebastian right behind me.

"Huh?" The girls were no longer held captive in the forcefield they were being held by the actual cherry blossom trees themselves.

"Quick help them! They're losing energy." Sebastian instructed as he realized what that monster was planning on doing.

I was unable to do so because the creepy Geisha then appeared out of one of the trees. She was coming towards me, and fast. I just barely got out of the way. When she came to a halt, she began to look for me. Her red eyes landed on me and laughed.

"Sailor Sea use your Tiara!" yelled Sebastian.

_Oh right. _I grabbed the tiara off my forehead and prepared to throw it at her. "Sea Tiara Sliceeee!" The tiara flew towards the Geisha, but a few yards before hitting the intended target it fell to the ground. "What?!" I looked at it in disbelief. _It's not working. _I panicked.

"Sailor Sea don't give up!" I heard Mags say to me. "Don't get trapped like us."

"Sailor Sea behind you!" Jade warned.

It was too late. The Geisha was coming at me with such a velocity, I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of the way. She grabbed me by my shoulders and held me down. I tried to resist her but her arms were too strong and her nails were digging into my skin.

"Let me go, you creep." I said to her.

"She only takes orders from me." I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

I moved my head to try to find who that voice belonged to. I then spotted her. It was a girl, she looked like she was in her 20's. Her dress choice consisted of a red and white polka dot dress. Her hair was black and long like Jade's and it was curled. She had it styled in a black leather headband. She also had it teased. Her eyes were pale blue, she had pale skin and wore red lipstick. If I didn't know any better I would say she looks like something out of a 50's movie. Although the thing that struck me as odd was that she too had a seashell silhouette on her forehead. Instead of it being gold and upright, hers was black and facing downward.

"Who are you?" I asked, still held down by the Geisha.

"I'm Leila." she said plainly, circling me. "Now where is she?"

"Who?"

She bent down and cupped my chin in her hand. "That sea brat. I need to find her before my sisters do. It was informed to me that she was on her way here. I want to know where she is, where is she hiding?"

For a second I thought she might have been talking about me when she mentioned Sea Brat. But when she said that someone told her that _this _person was on her way here, I knew she wasn't talking about me. Or I hope she wasn't.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I told her.

"Suit yourself. But just know I will find her." She let go of my chin and walked away. "Dispose of her, and her friends." she instructed the Geisha, and then she disappeared.

The Geisha nodded, and looked straight at me. Her eyes blinked once more, and I felt a gust of air from below me. I looked at my surroundings and realized that she had created a forcefield around us. "Let go of me!" I screamed over and over again.

"Sailor Sea!" the girls, Flounder and Sebastian yelled out.

The Geisha applied more pressure onto me, and as she did so the wind blew harder. I heard a sick cracking of some sort, and realized what was cracking. "Oh no, my locket!" The sea foam green locket Sebastian gave to me awhile ago was breaking into pieces. Then something worse happened. I was changing back into my civilian form.

The Geisha had finally let go of me. The pressure on my chest was taken off, but my arms were sore. I got on my hand and knees and tried to crawl over to the girls. I had to save them. As i got closer to the border of the forcefield, the ground gave up. My hands had fallen under my body.

""Ariana!" I heard Briar yell.

"Save yourself!" Bella shouted.

I couldn't hear what else they yelled, because I had fallen into the portal the forcefield had created. I don't know how long I was falling, or where I was falling. I couldn't see a thing. But I felt something fall on top of my head. I quickly grabbed it.

"Ariana!" I heard the familiar jamaican accent.

"Sebastian." I said under my breathe. "I'm sorry I couldn't save my friends, but you shouldn't have followed me."

"I'll follow you wherever you go." He said.

"Sebastian, what am I going to do? My locket broke and now I can't be Sailor Sea anymore." I felt some tears fall onto my cheeks.

"Did you want to continue being Sailor Sea?" he asked.

"No" I said without a doubt. "I mean being Sailor Sea is fun, but I just want to be a normal teenager. All I wanted to do today was have a picnic with my friends."

"If you really feel like that, then you cannot be Sailor Sea."

"But how am I suppose to save my friends? I can't just leave them. They need me, especially now. And I need them. What can I do?"

Just then we had stopped falling. We were now floating. I brought Sebastian closer to me. "Where are we?" When I looked down, I realized Sebastian had his eyes closed. I also realized I was wearing a purple shell bra. My legs were criss crossed. "Sebastian..." he didn't answer. Tear rolled down my cheeks again as I feared the worst. "I'm so sorry Sebastian, this is all my fault. If I were stronger we wouldn't be here." I couldn't help but sob. I kept asking myself if we were dead.

My eyes then shifted its attention to something sparkling ahead of us. "Princess Ariel." said a familiar voice. I squinted my eyes, and realized it was Queen Athena and King Triton. I looked at them in shock.

_I'm definitely dead. _

"We're here in your mind, my dear." the Queen said. "We'll always be here when you need us."

"Can you help me, please." I looked at them with tears forming, once again, in my eyes. "I don't know how to save my friends."

"The powers in the locket." King Triton began, but was interrupted when a bright light shone. I covered my eyes from the intense brightness. When it died out, I felt my feet on the floor. I unshielded my eyes. I gasped. I was back in Atlantica. I wore my sparkly blue dress. In front of my face the Sparkling Sea Diamond circled.

"The strength of your desire to save your friends makes the diamond grow bright and strong again." Triton finished saying.

"Ariel." Queen Athena drew my attention back to her. She grabbed my hand and placed something inside it. I looked at what it was. It was my broken locket. The Sparkling Sea Diamond then hovered toward my hand. It slowly dissolved when it touched the locket. "This is my gift to you."

I held a new locket. It was pink with an intricate design of a starfish. "It's beautiful. Thank you." I went in for a hug.

"Sebastian keep an eye on her. Make sure she succeeds." I heard Triton talk to Sebastian. He nodded yes.

Athena and I parted. "With the power in this Diamond I can help save my friends." I held the locket tightly to my chest.

"Dear Ariel, remember the Sea Diamond has not yet regained all its power. But the stronger your true desire to save your friends, the stronger it will become. Then _you _will become the Sea Princess once more."

"I will make you proud mother." I looked at King Triton. "Father."

"Now say Sea Diamond Power." Queen Athena said.

I nodded. I backed away from them . I raised the locket and yelled "Sea Diamond Power!" I placed the locket in the middle of my chest. In that instance feathered wings wrapped around me and pink ribbons danced all around my naked body. As they disappeared my sailor outfit with a blue skirt, red boots, and white gloves with a red cuff appeared. I felt the seashell silhouette on my forehead, my tiara covering it. My earrings, and hair clips appeared later. A red choker necklace with a starfish was placed on my neck.

When I was done transforming, I realized I was back at the botanic gardens. I heard Sebastian land next to me. We then saw Flounder struggling to get away from the Geisha.

I stepped up. "I'M BACK!" I shouted, grabbing the Geisha's attention. "In the name of the Sea, I fight for love, and justice. I am Sailor Sea! I will triumph over evil." I made intense eye contact with the Geisha. "And that means you!"

"Sailor Sea!" the girls cried out in joy.

"I thought you two were goners." Flounder said when he saw us.

"Flounder, so little faith you have in us." Sebastian retorted back.

"You're mine Sailor Sea." The Geisha ran towards me again, shooting petals from her hands. I managed to dodge all of them. Unfortunately she had me cornered at a tree. She shot some more deadly petals, but I ducked.

"Sailor Sea get up." Sebastian yelled at me.

I shot him a dirty look. "This isn't easy as it looks, you know."

"This is it kid." Her nails had grown into sharp red talons, and the bad news was that they were coming towards my face.

I shielded myself, since I had nothing to stop her. As she was inches away from me, a red rose stopped her dead on her tracks.

"Tuxedo Mask!" I yelled out. My heart racing.

"Sailor Sea, only you can save your friends." he said.

"Princess Ariel..." I heard a male voice say. The moon suddenly shone brighter. When it stopped, I saw something fall. It slowed down as it got closer, it then landed in my hands. It was a trident. It was elegant, and silver. There was a red jewel in the center of the three prongs. There were beautiful carvings on the handle.

"What's this?" I questioned, looking at the moon.

I then saw the shadow of King Triton fly across the moonlight. "My gift to you. This triton will help you on your quest."

"Thank you King Triton." I whispered gratefully.

The Geisha ran towards me once more. She was far away from me, therefore allowing me to use my trident. I lifted it into the air, and swung it a few times. At that moment I knew what I needed to say. "Oceanic Trident Elimination!" I yelled as I pointed it at her. A light in shape of a starfish and trident hit her right in her chest. She stopped and disintegrated into a pile of sea foam.

The moment she had left, the girls were released, and ran towards me. "Mags! Jade! Bella! Briar Rose!" I yelled. I hugged them. "Are you guys ok?"

"Nothing we can't handle." Bella said smiling.

"You're a real friend Sailor Sea." Briar put her arm around my shoulder.

"Thanks for saving us redhead." Jade said.

I heard Derek laugh. "Hey! If she gets to call you that then I should to." he requested.

"Will you two stop calling me that." I huffed in frustration.

"Hey who was that 50's chick?" asked Mags concerned.

I had almost forgot. "Her name's Leila. She was looking for this and I quote 'Sea Brat'."

"Was she talking about you?" asked Sebastian.

I shot him another dirty look. "Watch it mister." I warned him. "I don't think so, she mentioned that she was informed that this girl was on her way here."

"Here?" Jade asked. "Here as in Marina?"

I shrugged my shoulders not knowing.

"We should have a scout meeting tomorrow. It looks like we have another enemy on our hands." Bella suggested.

I looked at Derek. He looked right back at me.

"What?" Jade said noticing us. "Are you two hiding something?" she eyed us both.

"Um.." Derek cleared his throat. "Ariana and I actually have a date tomorrow."


	2. A Date, and a New Visitor

"What?" Jade said noticing us. "Are you two hiding something?" she eyes us both.

"Um..." Derek cleared his throat. "Ariana and I actually have a date tomorrow." He responded quietly. I could feel my cheeks grow warm.

"A date?!" Briar Rose and Jade yelled in unison.

"Aw come on you guys, don't tell me you didn't see this coming." Bella laughed at the two girls. Mags nodded in agreement.

"Ariana why didn't you tell me sooner?" Briar Rose asked dreamily. "We're friends aren't we?" I knew she was trying to make me feel guilty for letting her out of the juicy gossip.

"Of course. We all are. I was going to tell you girls, but then all this happened." I said pointing to the destroyed cherry blossom tree's. I sighed. "Look I wanted to tell you all last night, but I decided not to. You girls were there for me, now let me be there for you." I said to them.

"Ariana." Mags stated, "You are such a great friend, I appreciate everything you do for us, but you should have told us anyways. " she hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her.

"If you're happy redhead, then I am too." Jade smirked.

"Hey! What did we say about calling me Redhead?"

"Right. Sorry."

"I still think we should have a sailor scout meeting, if not tomorrow then Tuesday after school." Sebastian suggested.

_Ugh school. _I totally forgot about school. This four day weekend is definitely messing with me. "Sounds good to me." I said. My friends nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled, we'll meet around 4 at Jade's." said Sebastian.

After the fight with the Geisha, the girls, Derek and I finished having our picnic. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, but I was around the people I cared the most about. And that is the one thing that I did want.

Sebastian and I made it home a bit late. Mom and Dad were in their room. Jace was in the living room watching Full House reruns.

"Hey." I said to my brother, as I sat next to him.

"Hi. Where have you been?"

"I was with the girls, we had lunch at the botanic gardens." I responded.

"Fun." He said drawing his attention back to the tv.

I left Jace on the couch and headed to my room. I didn't even bother turning the lights on. I just slipped out of my clothes and put on my pajamas. I plopped into bed and fell asleep after a few minutes.

I awoke to the smell of pancakes. I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen.

"Good morning!" I said as I walked in.

"Good morning pumpkin." my mother kissed my cheek and gave me a plate of chocolate chip pancakes.

My dad got out of his chair, ruffled my hair, put his mug and plate in the sink and kissed my mother. "Good bye you two. I'll see you when I get back."

"Bye dad! Have a good day at work!" I yelled out to him as he ran out the door. I then continued stuffing my face. "Jace isn't awake yet?" I asked my mom who shook her head. "That's weird."

"I think he was up late watching reruns." mom replied._Oh yeah. _He was watching Full House when I got home. "So how was the picnic yesterday?"

"It was nice." I said simply, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Did the sky turn dark over there, because at Jace's game it was sunny a few seconds and then the sky went completely black. But it didn't rain."

"Yeah it did actually. It got super windy too. I bet Briar Rose still has petals in her hair." I giggled at the thought.

My mom then took a seat next to me. "So what are your plans for today?"

_Oh gosh. _I haven't told her that I have a date today. Should I tell her? No, of course not. I'll tell her when I'm ready. "Um nothing, although the girls want to hang out later." I lied.

"Fun. Do you mind doing some chores around the house before you leave? Maybe clean your room perhaps?"

"It's not that dirty, is it?" I asked her.

"Well there are clothes all over the floor, and you need to dust your room." She opened the cabinet under the sink and took out a rag and some wood polisher. She placed it on the table beside me.

"Alright, alright. I'll do it." I finished another plate full of pancakes and placed my plate in the dishwasher. I grabbed the cleaning supplies and headed to my room.

I picked my clothes up from yesterday and threw them in the hamper. I then began to dust my drawers. I put all of the picture frames and trinkets onto the bed. I sprayed the top with the polish. I grabbed the old rag and wiped. There was a thin layer of dust on the rag when I was done. I then moved onto my desk.

"Well look at you." Sebastian said crawling onto my nightstand.

"Take a picture it lasts longer." I answered sarcastically.

"Maybe I will." He said.

My nightstand then vibrated, informing me that I had just received a text. I grabbed my phone and swiped the home screen. I opened the text message. It was from Derek.

_Can't wait for our date. See you at Marina Park at 1:30._

I smiled like a doofus when I opened it. I played it cool and sent him a text saying

_Sounds good to me. See you soon :)_

I hope I didn't kill it with the smiley face. I looked at my clock. It read 12:00. I need to hurry. I cleaned the rest of my room in a heartbeat. I placed the cleaning supplies back, and ran to the shower. By then it was 12:20.

I washed my hair and body, shaved my legs, and got out. The clock read 12:35. I wrapped a towel around me, and placed a towel on my head. I got out of the bathroom, and walked into my room. Now came the hard part-deciding what to wear.

I felt like I stood in front of my closet for an eternity, but really it was only 5 minutes. After contemplating what to wear, I decided to go with some white capris and a purple and pink floral shirt. I quickly changed and ran into the bathroom. I checked the time on my phone. It was 1:08. I just curled my eyelashes, put a bit of mascara and just a tad of blush. I didn't have time to blow dry my hair so I just brushed it so it looked presentable. I hope my bangs don't poof out so much.

I sprayed on perfume and ran to the door. I put my shoes on and grabbed my purse. "By mom!" I yelled out.

"Bye Ariana, be home for dinner!" she called out.

"You got it!" I shouted, slamming the door behind me. I grabbed my phone from my bag and texted Derek.

_On my way._

Luckily the park was only a 10 minute walk from my house. When I got there, I began to look for Derek. I spotted him sitting on a park bench reading a book. The moment my eyes laid on my my heart began to race, not because I was nervous, but because this was finally happening.

He wore khaki pants and a melon colored buttoned down shirt. He always dresses so nice. I creeped up behind him, and placed my hands over his eyes. "Guess who?"

He chuckled, as he grabbed my hands. He gently pulled them away. "Hi you."

I took a seat behind him. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late."

"Hey no worries, I actually got here a few minutes ago myself."

"Really?" I asked a bit surprised. Derek always seemed like a punctual type of guy.

"No." he sighed in defeat. "I've been here for the past half hour. I just... well... you know.. I didn't have anything else to do."

I gave him a peck on the cheek. "That's sweet."

He smiled at me warmly. He got up from the bench and gave me his hand. I took it without hesitation. I got up from the bench. "Come on." he instructed.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"You'll see."

We walked around the park, until Derek made a stop in front of the pond. He led me toward the dock. There was a small yellow rowboat for us. Derek let go of my hand, and got inside. "Give me your hand, I'll help you in." I placed my hand and his and took a step inside. The boat began to shake under my weight. "I've got you. I promise I won't let you fall." Derek reassured me with a smile that warmed my heart.

I knew he'd catch me if I were to fall. I then took my other foot and quickly stepped inside the boat. I saw something on the floor. I let go of Derek's hand and reached for it. It was a loaf of bread. "Are you planning on making sandwiches?" I asked him with a laugh.

"No, they're for the swans up ahead." He responded as he placed the rope off the dock. He pushed off, and we were out into the pond. He began to row, and I couldn't help but stare at his strong arms. I quickly looked away, since I felt my face grow pink.

As he continued to row, I looked at the water under us. It sparkled with the suns rays hitting it. I could see tiny fishes swimming to the boat. I saw a duck with her ducklings swimming to the shore. There were lilypads with frogs sitting on them. It was all so pretty.

We passed under a low branch that had a seagull perched onto it. As we went under, the seagull began to cry out. I flinched when I heard it.

"Someone should find that poor animal and put it out of its misery." Derek said, unaware of the creature above his head.

When he said that, I felt a bit nostalgic. As if this has happened before. I shook my head to get the thought out of my mind. "Oh look theres the swans!" I pointed excitingly.

We got to the flock, and I took a few slices of bread out. I broke off pieces and began throwing them. The swans swam to the floating bread pieces and pecked at them. Derek and I did this until the bag was empty. By then the swans were just gently floating on the water.

"They're so beautiful."

"Yes, you are." He responded quietly.

I looked at him unsure if I heard him correctly. "What?"

He cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. He quickly changed the subject. "This must be weird for you huh?"

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You being on top of the water, rather than in it."

"Oh." I said understanding what he was trying to say. "Not really. I love water, whether that means I'm in it swimming, or floating on top of it."

"Our next date has to be at the beach then. Maybe you can teach me how to hold my breathe underwater for seven minutes." He smiled.

"It would be my honor. Although you seem more of the boating type."

"Don't get me wrong I love boating, but swimming is another strong skill I have. That's one of the reasons I'm always at the beach."

"One of the reasons? What are the other reasons?"

"You."

"You went to the beach for me?" I asked in pointing at myself with disbelief.

"Yeah, when I first met you, I felt like I had known you. You felt familiar. Anyways from that moment on I felt drawn to you." His blue eyes met mine. "I still feel drawn to you." He finished.

"I can reassure you that I feel the same way." I said grabbing his hand. _Smooth Ariana, way to be romantic. _

"Good." He gently placed a small kiss on my cheek. "How does ice cream sound?"

"Yummy!" I responded with glee. He rowed back to the dock. When we got there, he placed the rope on the boat and got out.

Derek helped me up onto the dock. Of course me being the klutz that I am, I tripped. I fell right in the middle of Derek's chest. He instinctively wrapped his arm around me to steady my balance.

He looked at me with a small grin on his face. I went up on my tippy toes, and he leaned down. I closed my eyes, and felt his warm lips on mine. He placed his hand gently on my cheek. I kept my hands on his chest. I didn't want this moment to end.

Next thing I knew I was on the wooden flooring of the dock. There was a pulsing pain on the back of my neck. I got up and realized a little girl clutched onto Derek. Her lips on his. Derek immediately pulled back.

"Hey!" I yelled, rubbing the forming bruise I knew was about to form.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to land on you." The girl said to him, her back facing me, not acknowledging me at all.

"Didn't your parent's teach you any manners? You can't just jump on people like that." I said to her.

She finally turned around. I gasped. She had cerulean blue eyes like me. Her hair was the exact same shade as Derek's. It was styled in a low ponytail, and had her bangs like mine, all poofed out. She wore coral capris and a creme tank top.

"Look lady, I don't have time to waste. Now hand over the Sparkling Sea Diamond." She walked toward me, and stuck out her hand.

Even her voice had a little song to it, like mine. "Excuse me?" I asked shocked. Was she one of the sisters Leila mentioned? Is she our new enemy? "How do you know about the Sparkling Sea Diamond?"

"I know all about the Sea Diamond. I want it, so you better hand it over Redhead."

"Hey." Derek said drawing her attention. "Hey little girl, can we help you find your parents? Are you lost?"

She never lost eye contact with me. "This has nothing to do with you. So leave your nose out of it." she responded a bit rudely. "Now for the last time, hand me the Sparkling Sea Diamond."

"But who are you? Where are you from?" I questioned. There was no way I was going to give her the Diamond.

She wasn't going to give me answers. "I have other ways of getting it." she said and ran off, with her little floating ball that looked like a walrus. After a few seconds later, she was out of sight.

Derek came and stood behind me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, my neck hurts a bit. But I'll be alright."

"Here, let's sit down."

We took a seat by the pond. We composed ourselves after that confrontation. "Derek where do you think she's from?" I asked as I kept wondering about that little rascal.

He placed a hand on his chin and thought about it. "I don't know, but her facial features look so much like yours. Maybe she's related to you Ariana. She could be your family."

I looked at him skeptically. "My family?"

"From Atlantica, your past."

"There's no way. I would have recognized her." I shook my head. "I'm going to have to tell the scouts about her tomorrow. Maybe we can find something out."

"Make sure to have your locket on you at all times." He advised.

"Will do." I saw the sun about to set. "Hey what time is it?"

"Quarter to 6, why?"

"OH NO!" I yelped, zolting up from the bench. "I have to be home for dinner."

"Do you want me to walk you home." he offered.

"It's ok, don't worry about it." I said. "I'll call you later." I gave him a soft kiss and ran home. He just laughed and waved.

I made it home with 15 minutes to spare. "Dinner's almost ready Ariana." mom yelled as I walked inside. I went to my room to put my purse away. As I opened the door, my mouth dropped. I ran to the living room where I knew Jace was.

"What did you do to my room? I just cleaned it and now it looks like a twister flew through there!" I yelled at him angrily.

"Ariana calm down." dad said trying to cool me down.

"Dad he totally destroyed my room. It was spotless when I left." I turned my attention back to Jace. "Were you looking for something?" But as I eyed Jace, a floating ball appeared behind his head. I did a double take, and realized that it was the little girl from the park. "What is she doing here?" I whispered to myself, hoping my eyes were deceiving me.

In that instant my mom walked into the room. "Ariana I expect you to clean your room, since we have company staying over."

"What?!" I yelled in frustration. "WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON? WHAT IS" I pointed to the girl. "SHE DOING HERE?"

My dad blinked and laughed. "Oh Ariana don't tell me you forgot."

"Yeah you doofus. This is our cousin Melody." Jace informed me.

"Since when do we have a cousin named Melody?" Confusion laced my voice.

"She came to stay with us last year." Jace grabbed a book from the table, and handed it to me. "She even brought her photo album."

I flipped through the pictures. There was one with the family on the beach, my mom hugging was one of me and her drinking tea on the porch. There were pages and pages of pictures. _How come I don't remember any of this? Am I going crazy?_

After dinner I decided to treat myself to a bubble bath. I mean after all I did clean my room twice today. I brought in my IHome into the bathroom, so I could listen to music and talk to Sebastian without raising any questions. As the tub filled, I told Sebastian everything.

"That's impossible, kids don't just fall from the sky." He said once I was done.

"That's what I keep telling myself." I told him. "I just want to know who she is and what she wants from me."

"Are you sure she said she's looking for the Sparkling Sea Diamond?" Sebastian looked like he didn't believe a word I said.

"Uh huh. And I'm absolutely positive she was the one who trashed my room looking for it. How did you sleep through that anyways?"

"I guess I'm starting to pick up on your weird habits." He mumbled. "Anyways are you sure she isn't your cousin, and you're just going completely bonkers?" he asked.

I thought about my answer, but I know what I saw this afternoon. LYeah Sebastian. There is no way that brat is related to me."

"If you say so. I'll keep an eye on her."

"Thanks." I said. Sebastian crawled away. I sunk deeper into the warm water. This should help me relax after Melody's craziness.

When the water had turned lukewarm, I decided it was time to get out. I dried myself off and put my pajamas on. Since I had school tomorrow I decided I should go to bed early.

After saying goodnight to my parents, I was off to bed. Before I turned the light off I grabbed my phone and texted Derek.

_I had a lot of fun today. Hopefully next time I won't have to cut it short. Good night._

A few minutes later I got a reply.

_I'm just happy that there will be a next time. Goodnight Redhead!_

I was starting to warm up to his nickname, It sounded nice when he said it. I turned the light off, and curled into my bedsheets.

Not even an hour later I began to feel something against my side. There was something in my bed that kept bothering me. I lifted the sheets and screamed. I jumped out of bed.

"Get off me!" I yelled at Melody who was clinging onto my pajamas.

"Not until you give me the Sparkling Sea Diamond!"

I managed to loosen her grip on me and throw her onto my bed. "That's it you little-"

I was unable to finish my sentence because my door was thrust open. My mom and dad were standing by the door frame. Mom had her arms crossed. "Ariana how dare you speak to your cousin like that."

"But mom she attacked me." I said turning my head back to Melody. "Go on tell them."

Melody's eyes began to water. "I'm sorry, I was having a bad dream." she lied to them. Melody ran to my mother who gently lifted her into her arms.

"Ariana if you keep on misbehaving we're going to have to ground you." my dad said shutting my door.

"Unbelievable, you saw that didn't you Sebastian."

"I did. Come now child go to sleep, we'll talk about this later." and with that we slept peacefully throughout the night.

After school Mags, Bella, Briar Rose and I walked over to the Garnet Temple for our scout meeting. Jade met us by the stairs, we all took a seat there. I then told them everything about Melody. I mentioned how she appeared out of thin air and demanded the Sparkling Sea Diamond. I told them how she is now staying at my house.

"You brought the picture right Ariana?" Jade asked, when I was finished talking.

I nodded as I sifted through my backpack to grab it. I gave it to Jade.

"Let's do a fire reading, and see what comes up."

We followed Jade into the room where she performs this ritual. She grabbed a box from the back of the room and placed the photograph inside. She gently pushed the box in front of the beginning flames, The girls and I took our usual spots on the blue mats and closed our eyes when we heard Jade chant.

After 5 minutes she stopped. I opened my eyes and noticed how her shoulders stooped. "Nothing, not a clue." Jade said in defeat.

"The fire gave you nothing?" Mags asked surprised.

"The fire can only tell me so much. Either that or this picture is a fake. If we want the scoop on Melody we're going to have to bring her in." She stood up, we followed closely behind.

When we got to her room we sat around her table and begun our study session. I couldn't focus because all I could think about was Melody. I looked at the picture over and over again "Maybe you did it wrong Jade." I said after a while.

"Not a chance." She responded.

"Ariana maybe you're overreacting to this whole thing." Briar Rose spoke up

"How can I not overreact, we just got out of a tough battle, and now this weird stuff is happening"

"She's right. We have to be careful around this girl." Bella defended me.

Just then Jade's dad came into the room "Snack time girls!" he held a tray of food. "I have tea and muffins." He carefully placed the tray on the table.

"Thanks dad." she said as he walked out.

Jade's dad is adorable. He's short, and has a killer beard. Plus his baking skills are just as good as Bella's.I grabbed a warm muffin and devoured it. I haven't had anything to eat since lunch. I went to grab another one till Briar Rose cleared her throat.

"What? I left you all atleast one each." I said my mouth stuffed with muffins.

The girls instead grabbed the tea. They drank it, and one by one they dropped their mugs spilling the tea on the table. They seemed to have pass out. "Hey you guys. This isn't funny," I poked Bella and she didn't stir. "Wake up." I began to freak out. I looked around the room, and saw a shadow coming towards the room "What's going on?" I hid behind one of Jade'a bookcases.

The door slid opened and Melody walked in. She held her ball under her arm and walked towards Jade. "This is the girl who can read fire." she said, as if talking to it.

I creeped up behind her and grabbed her from her waist. "Hello Melody." I said completely surprising her. "What are you doing here?"

I really must have caught her off guard. She began to sob, and then full out cry. Her wails were so loud I was sure she popped my eardrums. All of a sudden there was a beam of light that flooded Jade's room. I tried to quiet her down. "Lower the decibels kid." I let her go and she slowly stopped. "What was that all about?' I asked, as the blinding light dissappeared.

We were soon interrupted by laughter. "I finally tracked you down, let me tell you it wasn't easy."

I turned to see who was talking. I realized it was that chick, Leila. How did she figure out I was Sailor Sea. "What do you want?"

Leila didn't even notice me. She looked at Melody instead. "Now princess. Give us the Diamond and we'll be on our way."

I stood in front of Melody, shielding her from Leila. "One. the Diamond isn't hers to give, and two, your dress is out of season."

Leila drew her eyes back to me. "You're talking to me?"

"Yes, where did you come from?" If I questioned her maybe she'll reveal some information that might help the Sailor Scouts.

"From the Negasea, now butt out school girl."

_Negasea? What the hell is that? _She threw some weird blue fire at me, while I was momentarily distracted. Luckily I got out of the way in time. "Run Melody! Get out of here!" I yelled at her. Melody slipped through Leila's legs and ran off. Leila then followed in pursuit. I knew there was only one thing to do. "Sea Diamond Power!"

When I was done transforming I ran to the sound of Melody's voice. When I arrived at the scene, she was on the ground clutching her ball. "Get away from her!" I ordered Leila.

"Sailor Sea , we meet again." She circled me. Her eyes full of annoyance. "Last time I was unable to show you my powers, but that's about to change." She then threw her blue fire at me again. Except this time it created a wall between me and her. She had blocked me away from Melody.

I looked around to see what I could do. I climbed onto the side of the wall that acted like a fence and ran on the roof towards Leila. I jumped in the direction of the 50's disaster. I managed to elbow her face.

"How dare you!" she voiced angrily. She lifted her hand, trying to create her blue flame, but was stopped when a rose hit her hand. "Who threw that?" She searched.

Tuxedo Mask landed swiftly on the ground and make his way to Melody. He lifted her up into his arms. "Thought you could use some help Sailor Sea."

"Stay out of this masked man." Leila told him,laying her eyes on him.

I was growing tired of her, and decided to finish her. "I've had enough of you." I took out my trident . "Oceanic Trident Elimination!" I pointed it at her. There was nothing left where she stood. "Gotcha." I shouted in triumph.

"Not quite." I heard her voice. How had she managed to get away from my attack? No one has done it before.

"What?" I screeched.

"This isn't over Sailor Sea!" she yelled from the roof, and disappeared.

I rolled my eyes at the thought of me facing her again. Luckily Derek distracted me from that thought as he walked towards me.

"She seems to be alright, just overwhelmed.." He informed me. He looked down at her. There was a sort of familiarity in his eyes, and admiration.

I don't know if he was still looking at Melody, or thinking about something else, because for a second he seemed to be somewhere else.

"Derek? Are you alright?" I asked him. "You look pale. Is something wrong?"

It seemed that I took him away from his train of thought. "No, I'm alright." He reassure me.

We both changed back before Melody saw us. Derek and I walked back to Jade's room, where the girls were still out cold. He placed sleeping Melody onto the bed. He carefully examined Bella. "They should wake up soon."

"Thanks for the help." I thanked him.

"I'm here for you." He then looked back at Melody. "So why do you think she's after her?" He asked.

"No idea." I said walking towards him. "They're both after the same thing. The Sparkling Sea Diamond. I have to be extra careful now since she managed to trick my parents into letting her stay at my house." We were interrupted by a beeping sound. "What is that?" I asked

Derek took out his phone from his pocket. "It's an alarm to remind me that I have an evening class."

"You better go so you're not late." I said to him.

"Me? Late? Never." he winked at me. He placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "I'll catch you later." and left.

My eyes laid on Melody. As I watched her, I suddenly felt protective of her now. I stuck around and waited for the girls to wake up.

"What happened?" Mags asked clutching her head, as she woke up.

"Little Melody over there put some sort of sleeping potion in your tea." I informed.

"But why?" Bella questioned.

"I think she was looking for the Sparkling Sea Diamond." I told her.

"That girl has determination, I'll give her that." Briar said looking at the small figure resting in Jade's bed.

"Did we miss out on anything?" Jade wanted to know when she looked at how messy her room had become.

"Well..." I began. "That chick Lelia came here and she too was looking for the Sparkling Sea Diamond. I managed to transform and stop her, with the help of Tuxedo Mask."

"How did she find out where you were?" Briar looked puzzled.

"I surprised Melody, and she began to cry. But when she began to wail, there was some sort of light beam she created. I think that's how she tracked us down." I finished.

We then heard the bed screech. It was Melody, she was waking up. Good thing too, it was getting late.

"Where am I?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"We're at Jade's. But I was just waiting for you to wake up. Come on it's time to go home."

After a long day, Melody feel asleep in my bed. I didn't have the strength to move her to the guest room. I sat on the floor looking at her. _There was something about this munchkin. . . But what?_

Sebastian crawled over to me. He looked at Melody with a surprised expression. "Wow, who would have guessed she was such a hyperactive kid."

Melody's face was so serene. "You know she isn't so bad. My mom said I use to be like that at her age." I gently wiped a piece of her black hair away from her face. I got up from the floor and scooted into bed. "Good night Sebastian." I said to him as I turned the light off."Goodnight Melody." I whispered.


	3. A Little Fall of Rain

I awoke to a shrieking sound, and someone shaking me. I opened my eyes and saw my mom. She had tears rolling down her face. I've never seen her this distraught. "What is it mom? What's going on?" I asked, trying to steady her.

"It's Melody, she's run off." She said.

I pushed the covers away and realized that her small figure was not there anymore. I didn't even feel her leave. I got out of bed and changed. I looked at the clock. There was an hour left till school started. "I'll go find her." I volunteered.

"Your father's out searching now. Maybe you can help him." She said, as she began to calm down.

I nodded, and ran out the door. Now where would I go if I was her?_ The ice cream shop_. No it's not even opened yet._ What about the arcade_? Of course not, that's on the other side of town. Aha! _The park_. I began to run over to Marina park, which was literally three blocks away. I continued to scan the street for her on my way there, but there was no sign of her.

"Ariana!" I heard someone yell out.

I came to a halt and turned to look back. It was Derek. He wore sweatpants and a hoodie. He must be in the middle of a morning jog.

"I'm impressed," he teased. "You haven't fallen yet."

"Oh Derek!" I said running towards him and wrapping my arms around him. I burrowed my face into his chest. "You have to help me, Melody's disappeared."

"What?" Where could she have gone?" He asked with worry flashing through his eyes.

"I was going to check the park." I said pointing in that direction.

We were about to make our way over when I heard Sebastian yell out my name. He crawled over to us as quickly as his little legs could carry him. When he drew nearer I cupped my hands for him to climb onto. "Your father is back at the house, he said he couldn't find her anywhere." He huffed, trying to catch his breathe.

"Derek and I are going to check the park." I placed him onto my shoulder. "Hold on." I instructed as we began to sprint.

When we got to the park we didn't see a trace of her. I walked around the docks with Sebastian, while Derek searched the playground. A few seconds later Derek ran up to me and told me he had found her.

Melody was sitting on the swings by herself. Her ball right beside her. She hadn't realized we were there since she wasn't facing us. There was a bit of sadness that clung to my heart when I saw her there all alone.

I ran closer to her, Derek followed. " Oh Melody!" I sighed in relief.

She mumbled something under her breath that neither Derek or I could catch.

We approached her. "Melody." Derek said kindly. I noticed that he too felt better knowing that she was safe.

"Everyone's been looking all over for you. Are you alright?" I asked her sweetly, coming near her. I was genuinely worried. I kept wondering what had prompted her to run away.

She rubbed her eyes as if to dry the tears she had been crying. "Leave me alone." she said with a little quiver in her tone.

Derek and I were both taken aback. He went to crouched next to her and tried to make eye contact. "Melody.." he started. "Let's go home." He smiled warmly at her.

She turned her head towards him and nodded. How did he persuade her so quickly? A moment ago she didn't want to see us.

"Good, give me your hand." He instructed her softly.

Melody jumped off the swing and gave Derek her small hand. The moment her skin touched his, his eyes grew bigger. His mind looked like it went somewhere else again, like yesterday.

"Derek are you alright?" I asked him worried.

He looked at me and smiled reassuringly. "I'm ok" He gave Melody a small hug as if to calm her down and reassure her. He then stood up and offered Melody a piggy back ride. She accepted and climbed on. We began our walk to my house.

"Melody you really scared me. You know you shouldn't go out alone." I told her.

She stuck her tongue out at me, "Alright, it won't happen again ok?"

"It better not." I warned her.

We were coming up to my house. I could already see my parents and Jace outside waiting. I had called my mother to let her know we had found Melody and were on our way home. When we got to the driveway Derek lowered Melody slowly. Once she hit the pavement she went to hug my mother who had her arms wide open.

"Oh we were so worried about you. Where on earth have you been?" she asked her.

Melody put on her cute little puppy eyes I knew my parents couldn't resist. "I'm sorry."

"That's alright. As long as you're safe and sound." My dad told her, ruffling her hair. He then raised his head and realized Derek standing next to me. "Ariana who is this young man?"

I began to blush. "Um dad this is Derek. He helped me find Melody." There was no chance I was going to let him know he was my boyfriend. _Boyfriend. _I like the sound of that. I smirked to myself.

"Hello." Derek said to both my parents, as he shook their hands.

"It's very nice to meet you Derek." My mom said way too excitedly.

"Ugh, this guy looks too old to be Ariana's boyfriend." Jace interjected. Leave it to him to ruin the moment.

"Boyfriend?" my dad mumbled under his breath, but let it slide.

Derek's clock then began to ring. "I'm sorry but I have to go now. It was a pleasure meeting you all." and he ran off.

"Hey Ariana." My mom then whispered in my ear. "He seems like a nice young man. You should bring him over for dinner sometime?"

I felt myself blushing, but played along. "Uh...sure mom. "

Melody then cleared her throat gaining everyone's attention. "I'm hungry, could I have breakfast please?" she asked.

My parents and Jace blinked at her.

"Honey, who is that kid?" my dad asked my mother.

My mother shook her head. "I don't know."

Melody gasped and fear masked her face. I looked at my family in both confusion and shock . What's happening? Why don't they recognize her?

Melody then began to bounce her ball and yelled out "Explorer Magic!" the ball had transformed into an umbrella. _Ok now this is getting really weird. _She began to turn the umbrella. The pattern was hypnotizing. I couldn't look away.I could feel Sebastian struggling in my hands. I then felt a very sharp and very painful pinch on my arm.

"OOOWW!" I yelled, falling to the ground in pain."What did you that for huh?" I asked Sebastian furiously.

He pointed toward my family. They all surrounding Melody with recognition.

"I'm your niece Melody. Remember?" She asked with a smile.

"Of course I do silly head." My dad replied.

"I can't believe I forgot such a thing." My mom said leading her towards the kitchen.

So that's how she did it. "She hypnotized them." I told Sebastian

"Hey look Ariana. " Jace called me over. "This ball Melody plays with, has the same seashell silhouette that Sebastian has."

I was going to look closer at the ball, but the clock tower had rang. "Oh no! I'm going to be late!" I ran to school with a panic. Luckily I made it just in time. _No detention for me today._

During lunch Bella, Mags, Briar Rose and I sat at our usual spots. I began to tell them the incident that happened this morning.

"She hypnotized your parents and Jace?" Mags asked with a shock expression.

"Yeah, which I guess now makes sense." I responded. "Jace brought something up to my attention. You know that ball Melody has?" The girls nodded "Well it has the same seashell silhouette that Sebastian, Flounder and I have."

Bella looked like she was in thought. "Ariana, what if Melody is related to you. She could be your sister from Atlantica, or a cousin."

"There's no way. Queen Athena and King Triton would have told her." Briar butted in.

"Anyways I still don't who she is exactly and where she comes from." I said in defeat. I've only known Melody for two days, and all I have come up with is that she's a brat. Although she does have her moments.

"Maybe she's from where that chick Leila's from. Which was where exactly?" Briar asked looking at me.

"The Negasea. I have no idea where that is though."

"The Negasea," Bella mumbled. She went through her bag and pulled out a thick book. It had a blue leather binding, and a picture of Atlantica on the cover.

"Hey where did you get that?" I asked her curiously.

"Sebastian gave it to me." She flipped through the pages and stopped in the middle. "Here it is. I knew I had heard of it." She brought the book closer to her face and began to read. "During the banishment of Queen Ursula, the Negasea was created. It was created in the hands of the sea witch herself. All of the creatures that were against King Triton and Atlantica had been sent there. It is said to be full of wickedness, and negative energy, and it is the only piece of the sea to have such characteristics.. Most of the creatures found were actually corrupted to believe the evilness of His Majesty Triton by Ursula. Legend has it they can still be healed."

"So the Negasea was created when King Triton was ruler?" I inquired.

"It looks like it. Leila must be one of the followers, along with her sisters." Mags responded. "I think we need to discuss this further, but when Jade's around. How does tomorrow sound?"

"Works for me." I said. The girls and I finished eating, and went back to our respective classrooms.

"Ariana! Dinner's ready!" My mother yelled from downstairs.

I closed my pre-calculus book and made my way to the table. I took my new seat next to Melody.

"So how was everyone's day?" my father asked reaching for a roll.

"I signed Melody up for school. She starts the day after tomorrow. Oh and she's taking swim lessons." My mom informed us.

"How exciting. How about you Jace? How was school?"

My brother shrugged his shoulder. "It was alright. We played soccer in gym."

"Are you going to try out for the team?" I asked him. Jace's passion for soccer had grown over the past two years. I guess my mom made the right decision signing him up for a league.

He shook his head. "I can't, sixth graders aren't allowed to try out. Maybe next year though."

My dad then focused his attention on me and asked the questioned I've been dodging from my mother. "So Ariana, was that young man from this morning your boyfriend?"

I stopped chewing. "Uh.." I tried stalling. _Oh come one, they have to know eventually. Might as well tell them. _"Yes." I answered slowly.

My dad looked down at his plate and started cutting his steak. "I don't know how comfortable I am with you dating."

"Aw dad. I'm not a child anymore, I'm 16." I played it cool.

"Honey Ariana's mature enough, you're just jealous she has another man in her life." My mom defended me.

"Mature? She still jumps into puddles when it rains, and she still has coloring books." My dad argued.

"Hey I can control myself around puddles." I retorted back. "I think mom's right. You're jealous." I winked at him.

"Am not." He said simply, and let the matter go. My take on this issue is that in the end, he was ok with Derek being my boyfriend. I knew my dad secretly liked him. Don't ask me how, but I just knew he did.

After dinner, I finished my homework, and spoke to Derek on the phone. I told him what I knew about the Negasea. We both wondered if that's where Melody was from. We couldn't know for certain. I also told him about her hypnotizing my family. He was a bit surprised that Melody would do that. After a few more minutes I had to hang up since it was getting late. I made my way to my bed. I was taken aback when I realized Melody wasn't in my sheets. I had started to warm up to her. I guess she decided to stay in the guest room after all.

During school the next day the girls and I decided that we were to meet up at the Moonlight cafe after school to fill Jade in on what we talked about yesterday. When the bell rang, I met Briar, Mags, and Bella at the front steps.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

"We were just waiting on you." Briar teased.

Just then my phone rang. "Hello?" I picked up.

"Ariana."

It was my mom. "Oh hey."

"I'm stuck in traffic and won't be able to pick up Melody from swim lessons. Do you mind picking her up?" She pleaded.

I rolled my eyes and sighed in frustration. I knew I had no choice. "Yeah mom I'll go pick her up now." She told me that her lessons were being held in the gym and then I hung up.

I looked at the girls were sorry eye's. "I'm sorry guys, I have to pick up Melody. I'll meet you guys at the cafe." I said running in the opposite direction. While I slowed my pace, the sun began to disappear. In it's place was dark rain the downpour began. Since I was close to home I decided to make a little stop. I opened the door and quickly changed into dry clothes, since I was soaking wet. I then grabbed my purple rain jacket and green rain boots, and made my way to the gym.

The sound of crashing thunder kept roaring all over town. Lighting struck every few minutes. Good thing I'm not afraid of storms. Hopefully Melody wasn't either. I checked my clock, her swim lessons ended 15 minutes ago. I better hurry. I didn't want her to worry.

When I came in front of the building, I spotted a few puddles. _Ariana resist the urge, don't do it. _I tried to walk past them. I was doing so well, but I gave in. I ran back to them and splashed. _Darn it! _Whatever dad wasn't here. I walked back to building, and walked inside.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked politely.

"I'm here to pick my cousin up from swim lessons."

"The lockers are over there." she pointed.

I pull down my hood and walked into the lockers. "Melody I'm here!" I yelled out. But she didn't answer. "Melody?" I walked through the whole locker room, even the bathroom and there was still no sign of her. Maybe she went home. I grabbed my cellphone and called the house.

"Hello?" Jace answered.

"Jace! Hi! Mom asked me to pick Melody up from her swimming class, and I just got here and she isn't here. I was hoping she made it home on her own. Is she there?" I asked him hoping she was.

"No she's not here. Poor Mel, I hope she's ok, especially with this storm."

My heart sunk when he told me she wasn't home. I had to find her, that poor thing must be cold, and wet, and probably frightened.

"I'll go watch for her." He continued. "I'll call you if she get's here." He then promptly hung up.

I ran out of the locker room and then the gym. I wanted to call out the receptionist for letting a little girl leave without anyone, but I didn't have the time to argue with her. Right now I needed to find Melody.

"Where could you possibly be?" I muttered. This kid has a knack for running off, I really need to talk to her about it. But then again I did show up 25 minutes after her swim lesson ended. I ran into town, hoping to find her there. I was scanning all the windows, and as I did so I bumped into someone walking under an umbrella.

"I'm so sorry." I said looking up, my hood shielding my eyes.

"Ariana." It was Derek. Good thing too, and convenient, he could help me look for Melody. "why are you in such a hurry? Late for another meeting." He chuckled, not noticing the worry on my face.

"It's Melody, I can't find her anywhere." I cried out, a little out of breath.

Derek's face was soon full of concern. "She's missing? Again?"

I nodded. "I have no clue where she could have gone."

He laced his fingers through mine, which helped me calm down. "Don't worry Ariana, we'll find her."

We ran hand in hand in the rain looking for Melody. We peered into gift shops, restaurants, even the arcade. But there was no sign of her. All of a sudden a loud crash of thunder, and a bright flash of lightning interrupted our search. The loud noise freaked me out and clutched to Derek.

He rubbed my back. "It's ok, I'm right here. It was just thunder and lightning." he tried soothing me.

"We need to find her Derek. She's all alone in this storm." I told him growing more exasperated.

The sky had turned a dark purple shade, and a beam of light shone the sky. I squinted my eyes. _It's her. _"That's Melody. That's her energy!" I yelled pulling Derek. We ran towards the beam of light.

"It seems to be coming from the Moonlight Cafe." He said. As the cafe came into our sight, the beam had gone. "Ariana you should go in there. Try to calm her down. I'll wait for you two here."

"Calm her down? She likes you more than she likes me." I answered,

"If she sees that your trying, she might begin to warm up to you." He advised.

He's probably right. "Ok. I'll be back."

I walked into the building, that hosted the cafe upstairs. The moment I stepped in, I began to float."What the-" I was distracted by a flash of light that was coming from upstairs. I made swimming motions that led me up the stairs to the dinner. I saw a woman with a drum strapped to her, threatening Mags, Briar, Jade and Bella. She took out a blow dryer and pointed it at them. The blow dryer must have had some strong air, because it sent the girl and Melody straight to the wall.

_Thats it. _I took my locket out. "SEA DIAMOND POWER!" I yelled.

Luckily no one saw me transform. I grabbed the door frame, to keep my balance, since there seem to be no gravity in the building. I got a closer look at the woman who had hurt my friends. She kept hitting the drum. Outside the cafe, lightning and thunder raged on, in sync to her drumming. _She must be the one who created the storm. Maybe she's working for Leila._

The woman kept hitting her drum over and over again. "Stop that ruckus!" I screamed to her.

Melody's eyes searched for the voice. She looked at me with hope. "Who are you?"

I smiled at her. "I fight for love. I stand for justice. I am Sailor Sea!" I turned to face the monster. "So you're the one who created the storm. How dare you terrorize citizens of this town. In the name of the Sea I will punish you."

The woman looked bored, "Beat it!" She grabbed her blow dryer and the air pushed me against one of the windows.

"Sailor Sea!" the girls cried out.

"Hold on Sailor Sea." Melody tried to approach me. However she wasn't able to get very far with the no gravity thing happening.

"How about I fry you up little fishie." The woman yelled at me. She began to beat the drum slowly, and then picked up the pace. The electricity she had created was then thrust onto me. I felt the hair on my arms shoot up.

"We have to help her.' I heard Briar Rose exclaim.

After a few more seconds I felt the electricity stop. I caught my breath, and saw a huge gaping hole in the monsters drum. I also saw a red rose stuck to the floor. "Tuxedo Mask!" I wheezed.

Melody looked at him puzzled. "Tuxedo Mask?"

He stood on a floating table. "I can't tolerate the fact that you terrorize people with the storm you created." He distracted her. He then looked at me.

I knew what he was thinking. I summoned my trident. "Oceanic Trident Elimination!" I pointed at her. The trident must have been strong because the light that shone from it threw her out the window. I swam over to the window and saw she had turned to Sea Foam. I realized that there were two women standing on a building, watching the whole thing. One of the, had blond hair that was a bit above her shoulders. She wore shiny blue leggings and a blue and pink tunic, that seemed to be made with the same material. Her silver boots reached below her knees. The other girl had long dark brown hair that was curled, her side bangs framing her face. She wore a maroon dress with brown boots. They only stared, and disappeared. _They must be Leila's sisters. _

I returned my attention back to the room. "What's going on in here anyways?" Even though I had defeated the monster, why were we still floating?

"It seems that the gravity has been turned off, but only in here." Mags responded looking outside.

"I'm sorry, it's all my fault." Melody spoke up.

Mags looked at her skeptically, then curiously. "You were able to defy the law of gravity?"

"I don't know how." Melody then took out her necklace she was hiding underneath her pink dress. The necklace had a gold chain with a key. The moment she held the key in her hands, she closed her eyes in focus.

The gravity was coming back. Unfortunately with my lack of balance, I landed on my butt rather than on my feet. I got up quickly, so Melody wouldn't think Sailor Sea is a klutz.

Bella crouched down to eye level with Melody. "How did you that?" She asked her.

"I don't know. I just wanted to go back home." she sounded annoyed.

"Back home?" Jade muttered. "Which is where Melody?"

"Where my parents are."

"Where exactly are they?" Jade crouched on her knees.

It look like we struck a cord there. Melody didn't answer her question. She just looked away. I notice a bit of sadness in her eyes, and some internal conflict. I felt bad, it must be really hard for her being away from her parents. She never really told me how old she is, but I would guess around 8 or 9.

"Melody." i walked towards her. I placed my hand on her shoulder. "If you tell us the truth, we will be able to help you. You can trust us. I promise."

"How about we order some milkshakes and you can tell us all about yourself." Briar Rose said, shaking my hand off and trying to get Melody to sit in a both.

"Guys.." Tuxedo Mask spoke up. "I think Melody has good reason not to tell us about herself. She'll tell us when she's ready." He looked at her. "Right?"

Melody's eyes shone. "Yeah." She got of the booth and ran to him. He crouched down with his arms opened. He wrapped his cape around her to finish the hug.

_Oh great, she's clingy to both Derek and Tuxedo Mask. Perfect. _


	4. A Day at the Library

A few days after the whole Moonlight Cafe fiasco with Melody, things have been the same. There have been no attacks on Mel, or on the city. Although things have been normal, the Scouts have grown more and more suspicious. There's a new enemy, my Sparkling Sea Diamond is wanted, and we don't even know why, or who our enemy is.

Thursday after school, the girls and I met at my house. My mother had taken Mel to Jace's soccer practice, so we had the house to ourselves.

"Alright first things first." Sebastian said crawling all over the table. "You four have new transformation pens." He handed them out to the girls.

They all had their corresponding colors. Except this time, their toppers were all stars. In the middle of the stars, they each had their own symbol. Jade's was a gold lamp, Mags was a white magnolia, Bella's was a rose, and Briar Rose's was a jeweled crown.

"Hmm that's funny, I always thought my symbol was going to be the spinning wheel." Briar said, her eyes focused on her orange pen.

We all giggled.

"Hey atleast its not a pillow." Bella laughed.

"But see if it was a pillow it would atleast reflect who I am." she rolled her eyes.

"And the crown doesn't?" I asked her rhetorically. "The crown symbolizes that you're a leader." I told her with a smile.

"Oh honey, I know." She responded placing a hand over her chest. The girls and I continued to chuckle at her silliness.

"Anyways." Sebastian continued. These new pens are operational when you shout your respective power followed by 'Star Power'."

The girls looked confused so Flounder took over. "As an example, I'm going to use Bella's. Her shout would be "Rose Star Power!"

"Oh." The girls and I said in unison. That makes more sense. Sebastian needs to learn how to rephrase his sentences so they actually make sense.

"I almost forgot, here are your new communicators." My little crustacean friend passed to us. They all had the same cover, but in 5 different colors. The design on the covers were exactly like the cover of my new brooch, a starfish.

"It looks like you guys are really into stars." I teased our two protectors.

"A little consistency between you five can be a good thing." Flounder commented.

"I'm not complaining," I responded, "Now we can all be twinsies!" I hugged Mags, and Briar who were on either side of me.

Jade shook her head in disagreement. "Look, we can talk about this later, but right now we need to uncover the truth on Melody." she said.

I was a little taken aback when she switched the subject to Mel. I know we had a rocky start with her in the beginning, but she was just a kid she didn't know any better. I just feel protective over her, and there's no chance she's the Sailor Scout's enemy. I mean come on, she's hasn't done anything against us.

"Look at you taking charge." Briar teased as she poked Jade's side.

"Jade's right." Bella defended. "We need to know where she came from, and why no one has come looking for her"

"Ariana has mentioned that she's after the Sparkling Sea Diamond. Her and that Leila girl." Mags said, "Has she told you anything else?' she asked, looking my way.

I was hesitant in answering, but I did so anyways. "No, the past few days my mom has kept her occupied. She's in school all day, and then on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Thursday's she has swim lessons."

"You do have the Diamond hidden right?" Jade asked looking at me intently.

"Of course, I'm not that stupid. I won't just have it lying around. It's with me 24/7." I reassured her. "It's in my locket, ok? Don't stress out." I pointed to the bow on my uniform that housed my locket while I was at school.

"You know something I just realized?" Bella asked out of the blue. "Melody has gotten really close with Derek."

That comment struck a cord in me. "Oh don't get me started" I began. "I swear she eavesdrops on my phone calls with him, because whenever we meet up, she just magically appears." As much as I was beginning to like her, I was not a fan of having her around when Derek and I were together.

"Sounds like someones jealous." Briar sang.

"Am not. She's a kid. Anyway's, Derek and I went to the police station to ask if any parents had reported a missing child. There was none." I stooped my shoulders. "No one seems to be looking for her." Which saddened me. There has to be someone looking for that little munchkin. There just has to be.

"There's got to be someone. If not in Marina, maybe in the few towns over. No mother can live without her child." Briar interjected.

"Or father." Mags added. "Perhaps Melody has told something to Derek."

I shook my head. "No he would have told me. Those two do have a connection, but if something were to be said that could help us to help her he would have told me."

"What do you mean they have a connection?" Bella asked with a furrowed brow.

I began to tell the girls about my observations. "You know that one time you all were knocked out by that tea Melody gave you." The nodded. "Well Tuxedo Mask had Mel in his arms, and the moment he laid his eyes on her, he was lost in thought. Then the time she ran away, Derek was the one who persuaded her to come home. He asked for her hand, and the instant her little hand laid on his, he was lost in thought again. I've asked him if he's ok, and he's reassured me that he is. Whenever it happens his eyes widen and glaze over."

"Has he told you what his thoughts are? What he sees?" Mags questioned.

"I never actually asked him. I mean, if it were important, he would have told me. Right? Maybe he'll tell me when he's ready." I said reassuring them. But in the end I knew I was trying to reassure myself. So far our relationship has been growing strong, I don't think he would have a reason to hide that from me. Anyways, it really wasn't my business, he doesn't have to share everything with me. He has his right to have own private thoughts.

"Ariana you mentioned you saw Leila's two other sisters on that day of the storm?" Sebastian wanted to know.

"You saw them? Why didn't you tell us?" Briar looked a bit taken aback.

"I couldn't with Melody around. I was going to tell you guys today." I added, as I began to describe the way the two other sisters looked. "I couldn't really see their faces, but it was obvious they had the same upside down black seashell silhouette on their foreheads. So it's safe to assume that they are her sisters."

"Why didn't they face you for the Diamond then?" Bella placed her finger on her chin. "That just doesn't make sense. It was just you and Tuxedo Mask."

"I thought that too, but then it hit me. What if they weren't after the Diamond?" I said looking at the four girls. It looked like they didn't have an answer, which was a first. "They were after Melody. When we got home that night she asked if she could sleep with me because the storm scared her. I think that the two sisters created the storm to find Melody."

"But I thought Leila and her sisters are after the Diamond" Jade looked a bit puzzled.

"They're after both the Diamond and Melody." Flounder spoke up. "You girls have to protect her. She might be after the Diamond, but she's still an innocent little girl."

"Flounders right. You're job as Sailor Scouts is to fight for justice. And what those Strange Sisters are doing is bullying poor Melody." Sebastian argued along side Flounder.

The Scouts and I knew he was right. In that moment, the front door opened. Jace, Melody and my mom came into the house carrying two large boxes of pizza's.

"Hi girls!" my mom smiled, "Dinners here!"

After dinner, the girls had to leave. I walked them to the door.

"Bye guys! See you tomorrow at school!" I yelled out as they left. I waved to them until they were out of sight.

I went up to my room to try to finish my english homework. As I began to identify the contrasting ideas in Shakespeares sonnets I heard a light knock on my door.

"Come in." I yelled.

The door creaked open, and I heard little footsteps. "Ariana could I do my homework with you?" Melody asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Here let me clear some space off for you." I took my math junk out of the way. I was done with it anyway. Melody took a seat and placed her small book on the table and began to take notes. We were silent for a while. "Whatcha working on Mel?"

"Don't call me that!" she said annoyed.

"Woah, calm down." I said a bit shock with her reaction. "I was just trying to make small talk."

She just rolled her eyes, and went back to work. I looked at Sebastian as if to say _Did you see that? _He blinked his little black eyes.

When I felt Melody's annoyance had died down I tried to make conversation with her again. Maybe I could find something out about her. "So how are you liking school?"

She put her pencil down and looked at me. The little girl who had snapped at me was no longer present. I was looking at the girl who had knocked at my door and _wanted _to spend time with me.

"It's ok." she shrugged her shoulders.

"Have you made any new friends?" I tried furthering the conversation.

"Just one. She's sits next to me in class." she said with a smile.

"You should invite her over one day. I'd like to meet her."

"I will." Her eyes lit up. We sat in silence for a while, until she spoke up. "Ariana do you mind taking me to the library tomorrow?" Melody asked sweetly.

"Sure. I can pick you up at your school, if you'd like. Just wait for me at the entrance and we can both walk together."

"Ok." She went back to taking notes, and I went back to Shakespeare.

I was just finishing up my homework, when my phone rang. I quickly picked up, since Melody had fallen asleep already, and in my bed no less. "Hello?" I whispered into the phone.

"Hello? Ariana? Why are you whispering?"

"Oh hi Derek. Sorry about the whispering, Melody's asleep."

"Ah is she sleeping with you again?" Even though he was on the phone, he whispered as well, which I found both humorous and cute.

"Mhmm. Anyways what's up?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice. You?"

How is it that he still manages to make me melt without being in the same room as me? "I just finished my homework. I'm probably going to go to bed soon."

"It is pretty late redhead. I guess I'll talk to you later. Goodnight."

"Wait hold on, I wanted to ask you something."_ Now's your time, ask him about his thoughts. Ask him where his mind goes to._ " I was wondering if you'd like to go to the library with me and Melody tomorrow?" I chickened out.

"Yeah, I'd really like that."

"Cool"

"I don't have class tomorrow, if you want I can wait for you after school and we can pick Mel up from her school on the way there."

Mel? She lets him call her that, but not me? "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Derek."

"Goodnight Redhead,"

After we hung up, I got into my pajamas and into bed I turned off the light and wiggled into my spot. I then heard Melody weeping. I turned to face her, and realized she was still asleep. She kept muttering "Mom" and "Dad"

"Don't just look at her, comfort her," Sebastian advised.

I shook Melody softly, trying to wake her. Her little eyes fluttered opened and stared into mine. "Hey, everything's ok. I'm right here kiddo." I whispered to her as she shifted her body towards me. I wiped the tears off her face and tried soothing her. I propped my elbow up, and put my head on my hand. With my free hand I began to stroke her long ebony hair. Her breaths were no longer short. She was calming down.

"Will you sing to me?" She requested.

"Of course." I nodded. _Alright here goes. "_I want to be where the people are. I want to see, want to see them dancing. Walking around on those, what do you call 'em?"

"Feet." Melody sang for me.

"Flipping your fins you don't get too far. Legs are required for jumping, dancing. Strolling along down a.. what's that word again?"

"Street" She sang a bit more sleepily

"Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they stay all day in the sun. Wanderin free, wish I could be, part of that wooorld." I finished, since I heard her deep breaths.

"Good job Ariana, you actually managed to calm her down." Sebastian congratulated. "That tune is awfully familiar, where did you hear it from?"

"I just made that song up." I whispered, trying to not wake Melody up.

"Maybe I'm just getting old. Good night Ariana."

"Night Sebastian." I glance one last look at Melody just to make sure she was sound asleep, and went to bed.

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

My alarm clock woke me up, which was odd. I don't remember setting it last night. I got out of bed and started to prepare myself for the day. Melody had already left my room. As I finished brushing my tangled hair, I went downstairs for breakfast.

"Ariana you have ten minutes till school starts. Hurry up! I don't want another phone call from your teacher." My mom greeted me.

_Well good morning to you too. _She handed me my lunch sack and then my breakfast. The coffee cup she gave me was actually filled with a smoothie. Oh my mother makes me laugh. She thinks blended fruit will keep me awake rather than caffeine.

My mother hurried me out the door. "Don't forget to take Melody to the library!"

"I won't. See you later mom!" I yelled to her. As I jogged to school, I saw someone in front of me do the same.

"Holly!" I called out.

The blond girl in front of me stopped and looked back. "Hey Ariana!"

"Don't want to be late either I see." I said as we jogged together.

"What?" she asked confused.

"School starts in like 5 minutes."

"No it doesn't, it starts in 25 minutes."

"But my mom..." I started. Then I realized what a genius she is. She was the one who set my alarm. She lied to scare me. "Wait, if we're not late then why are you running?"

"I forgot one of the homework assignment in my locker. If I get there now, there's a strong chance I can finish it before it's due."

Holly and I ran together to school. I accompanied her to her locker. As she grabbed the sheet from a book it was sticking out of and began filling in the answers, I tried catching my breath. You would think by now I'd be use to running, but I'm not. It still tires me out.

"Why are you drinking your coffee from a straw?" Holly giggled looking at me sipping my breakfast.

"Oh it's actually a smoothie." I told her. "Want a sip?" I offered.

She drank from the straw. "Oooh coconut."

"Good huh?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

She laughed out loud. "It's pretty tasty. Think mama Triton will make me one?"

"Of course, she adores you." I took hold of her arm and walked through the school to waste some time.

"Ariana I miss you. I feel like I haven't really spent time with you." She said as we walked on.

When she said that I felt my heart sink. Ever since I had become Sailor Sea I haven't gotten a chance to spend time with her. "I feel the same way too. It's been ages since we've hung out, and that's partially my fault."

'It's both our faults."

"Have lunch with me, Mags, Briar Rose, and Bella." I invited.

"Oh no, I don't think that's a good idea." She shook her head.

"Aww come on." I whined.

"I- I don't think they like me." She lowered her eyes.

I stopped walking. I turned my head to stare into Holly's eyes. "I can reassure you that is not true." I said completely serious.

"Really?" she asked, lifting her head.

"Have I ever lied to you?"

"No."

"Have lunch with us then." I pleaded.

"Oh alright." I won her over.

"Yay!" I yelled in glee. I gave her hug, before we were rudely interrupted by the warning bell. Holly and I ran to our classroom.

When it was time for lunch, I hooped my arm with Holly's and together we walked to the tree where the girls and I usually had lunch.

"Are you sure it's ok I'm here." Holly asked looking a bit worried.

"Of course!"I took out my lunch from my backpack. Holly did the same.

As we were about to eat, Mags, Briar, and Bella had taken a seat beside us.

"Hey Ariana. Hi Holly." Mags greeted her.

Holly gave a small wave.

Briar took out the contents of her lunch sack and decided to eat her cookie first. "Want a piece?" She offered to Holly.

"Don't eat that Holly! She probably baked it herself," Bella teased. "If you want some good dessert taste my banana bread. I made it last night."

Holly outstretched her hand and Bella placed the piece of bread in her hand. When she had placed it in her mouth, we all stared at her to see what her verdict was. Once she had swallowed she gave us a smile and a thumbs up. "That's really good."

"Thank you."

"Bella's the only one who knows how to cook and bake. " I told Holly.

"Your cookies aren't that bad, Ariana. Give yourself some credit." Briar said.

"So you were the one who ate them all." I pointed my finger at her.

As Briar and I got into a fake fight, I saw Mags begin to talk with Holly. I knew they shared a few classes. I could see that Holly's nervousness was beginning to fade away. She was starting to get comfortable around us.

"So what's everyone plans this weekend?" Bella asked, trying to get the group to talk as one.

"Work. My mom's receiving a new shipment of engagement rings and the store will be crawling with soon to be grooms." Holly answered.

"I'll probably study, maybe workout." Mags replied.

"Hmmm I think I might join you Mags. It's almost summer, I need to start working on the bikini body." Briar said.

"Well I'll probably try to perfect my creme brulee. I think I might even catch up on some reading. What about you Ariana?" Bella asked me.

"I'll most likely have to watch over Melody."

"Whose Melody?" Holly asked.

"She's my cousin, she's going to be staying with us for a while." I told her. "I'm taking her to the library today."

"If she's letting you accompany her to the library with you, I think she's finally warming up to you." Mags said.

"I don't know. She has her sweet moments, and then she has some not so sweet moments. Like yesterday she knocked on my door and asked me if she could do homework with me. I said yes. As I tried making conversation with her, I called her Mel, and she literally blew up."

"Just give her time." Briar advised. "She's only be with you and your family for a week."

"And yet she loves my parents, likes Jace, adores Derek, and hates me." I said frustrated.

"Derek?" Holly raised her eyebrows.

"Oh my gosh you haven't told Holly?" Bella asked shocked.

"Haven't told me what?" Holly looked at me. "Ariana?"

I began to fidget. I felt so bad I haven't told her. "Derek's my...boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?!" Holly screeched, "What?! Tell me all about him!"

The girls laughed at her reaction. I then began to describe him, how we met, and our first date. Luckily I had finished in time, because the bell rang to remind us that lunch was over.

When school was over, a smile took hold of my face since I knew who was waiting for me beyond those doors. I felt my heart race as I walked down the corridor toward the front exit. I knew Derek would be waiting for me. As I pushed open the doors, my eyes began to scan the crowd. I spotted him by a tree. He was wearing navy pants and a white button down with the sleeves rolled up. I ran to him like a maniac. I wrapped my arms around him when I had finally reached him. I felt his strong arms around my shoulders. I looked up at him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. "I missed you." I told him.

"Me too." He gave me a kiss on the forehead. "We better go pick up Melody, she should be out of school in 15 minutes." He took a hold of my hand, and we began to walk.

We walked in silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. I decided this was my chance to ask him. "Hey Derek?"

"Yeah"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." He squeezed my hand.

_Alright here goes. "_You know how in the past few days you've kinda been lost in thought whenever you interact with Melody?" I asked. He nodded. " What do you think about? You don't have to answer if you don't want, I was just curi-"

Derek halted and placed his finger on my lip. "Ariana, it's ok. I wanted to tell you for sometime, but I didn't know how to." His blue eyes were focused on my face.

"You wanted to tell me?" Phew, and here I thought he was hiding it from me.

"Of course. We're dating now, you deserve to know." He started to say, as we continued walking "Whenever I interact with Melody I see the same thing. A castle, and its familiar somehow. The only image I see close up is a tower, the highest one. I don't know what it means."

"A tower? Is there someone in it?"

"Not that I've seen. The image only stays in my head for a bit." He stated. "I've also had nightmare."

"Nightmares? Of what?" I asked, my voice traced with worry.

I was not prepared for what his answer was. "Of you. All I see is you, the earth shaking underneath you, and then everything goes black." He shook his head as if to shake the disturbing thought out of his mind. He stopped walking again and let go of my hand."The nightmare scares me to no end. I just got you, and I am not ready to lose you." He said with his head lowered, unable to face me.

I slowly approached him. I lifted his chin with my fingers so we could meet eyes. " You won't lose me. Not now, not ever. You're stuck with me."

He hugged me, and we continued our walk.

We had arrived at Melody's elementary school, with 5 minutes to spare. There was a little bench by the entrance of the school. We took a seat and waited. I was beginning to tell him how Melody had acted with me last night but the final bell had rung. Derek and I stood up so Melody could spot us, since she was harder to find in the sea of kids.

"Derek!" I heard Melody's voice cry out.

"Hey Mel." He said ruffling her hair. She didn't even yell at him for calling her Mel, or for making her ponytail all messy.

"Hi Melody, ready to go?" I asked her.

"I suppose." She said grabbing Derek's hand and running off.

"Hey wait up!" I yelled. I had reached them and walked on the other side of Melody. Derek had asked her about her day, she told him about the project she was assigned. That's why she wanted to go to the library.

"So what's your project on?" He asked her.

"Its about the solar system. Hey did you know that Pluto isn't a planet anymore?" She asked us both.

"I did." Derek answered her.

"Pluto's still a planet in my heart." I responded automatically.

"You're really weird Ariana." Melody informed me. I heard a chuckle from Derek. I shot him a dirty look.

"Hey look at the sunset!" I said trying to distract them.

Melody's eyes sparkled with astonishment. She looked genuinely happy for a moment. As if all her worries and fears had drifted away. Her smile grew. Then she did something that surprised me, in the most wonderful way. She had reached for my hand.

Maybe Sebastian and Flounder are right. Underneath that bratty exterior theres a little girl who's lost, lonely, and just needs reassurance.

But then the moment was ruined when she yanked her hand away from mine. "Ariana, don't hold my hand. You're not allowed."

I looked at her with my mouth agape and my eyebrows raised. "You're joking. _You _reached for _my _hand." I tried pointing out.

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

Derek placed his hands behind his head. "Stop it you two." He said with a hint of annoyance. "Come on the library will be closing in a few hours."

We arrived at the library and went to the lower floor which had tables and desks for people to work on. There was a tank full of fish by the window, and of course there were many many bookshelves. "Derek will you help me find some books?" Melody asked him.

"Sure thing." He said following her into the science aisle. He then noticed I was standing in the same spot. "Aren't you coming?"

I shook my head. I knew Mel would rather have him than me. "I'll go find a table." I said and walked away. I found a round table by the fish tank. I took my backpack off and placed it on the floor. As I sat there waiting, I began to feel like a third wheel, which sounds weird. I've been trying to connect with Melody , but it seems like every time I do we just go back to where we started, bickering at each other. Maybe with time she'll begin to like me. I mean hey, she's stopped asking me for the whereabouts of the Sparkling Sea Diamond. That's a good start.

"Ariana.." I heard a little whisper.

I turned to the voice and saw a small red crab crawling over to me. "Sebastian? What are you doing here?" I asked in a hush tone.

"My Ariana senses were tingling." He said sarcastically. "I was just strolling around town and decided to come check up on you and Melody. But..." He stopped as he looked at his surroundings. "There's something weird going on here. Don't you feel that negative aura?"

"What?" I asked not sure to what he was referring to. Nothing odd has happened, but then again I was lost in my own thoughts.

"Come check it out." He crawled towards an aisle that had no one there, I followed. I looked for any sign of evil, but there was none. He hopped onto the lower shelf.

"What do you think is going on Sebastian?" I asked a bit skeptically. Nothing seemed out of place. The library was awfully quiet, but that's normal.

He then touched the book that laid beside him. The book melted into a disturbing green color of goo. I moved back in disgust, and when my body touched the bookshelf behind me the books melted too.

"Ugh, that's so gross." And then I sensed it, the negative energy that Sebastian was talking about. A gust of wind hit us. We then heard a few screams from a couple aisles away, and wicked laughter.

"Transform!" Sebastian screamed as he hurriedly crawled towards the commotion.

"Sea Diamond Power!" I brought my brooch up to the air, and then placed it on my chest. Angel wings engulfed my body, leaving behind pink ribbon that transformed into my sailor uniform. My white gloves and red boots were placed onto me by the same ribbons. My skirt and accessories had finally appeared, finishing my Sailor Sea transformation.

I ran towards the screaming, which were coming from people who were running away. But from what? Then I saw her, a woman with red skin. Her whole outfit made of books. She grabbed a few people and seemed to drain them from their energy. They fell to the floor unconscious. Sebastian tried clawing her, but it was no use.

"Hold it right there!" I yelled. "You have polluted this library! Therefore you have polluted reading and learning. You must be stopped. And I am just the one to do it. I am Sailor Sea! I stand for love and justice, an in the name of the sea I will punish you!"

"I am Sailor Rose!" I heard Bella's voice. She was standing on top of the checkout desk. Good thing someone's here to help me."How dare you ruin books! In the name of the Enchanted Rose I will punish you!"

"Is that so?" The red skinned woman asked, focusing on Bella. "Well how about you listen to these audio books!" She threw cases of them at us.

At first she threw them pathetically. Sailor Rose and I knew we had this covered, until the audiobook cases began to explode. Sailor Rose dodged them gracefully. I however did not. As we managed to distract her, the people were heading towards the exits, leaving the library practically empty. Except for the bodies whose energy have been drained.

The creep stopped throwing the audio books and looked at Sailor Rose and I. Two women stood on either side of her. It was that lady I saw on top of the rooftop. The one with short blond hair. The girl next to her wasn't familiar. She looked a bit like the girl who wore the maroon dress, but I could tell she wasn't her. The new girl wore black skinny jeans, and a purple jacket with black shoulder pads. Her black straight hair was in a sleek ponytail. Although her bangs covered her forehead, I could still see the black seashell silhouette.

"Who are you?" I asked them. As I realized that they were the ones calling the shots with this monster.

"Sorry for not introducing myself the other day. I'm Zenon, and that's my sister Alex." She pointed to the ponytail chick.

"I can introduce myself, thank you." Alex retorted with sass.

"I'm sure you can." Zenon said to her sister. "Now book worm finish them off." She ordered the red skinned woman. Zenon and Alex took a seat on one of the bookshelves, as if getting ready to watch the fight.

"With pleasure." She threw a book at us, and it was coming fast.

Luckily the book was struck by a rose, stopping it. I scanned the room for my Tuxedo Mask. He stood on top of a bookshelf, overlooking the scene.

"I cannot tolerate people who want to destroy books." He jumped from the shelf and confronted book worm.

As they dueled it out. Bella turned her attention to Zenon and Alex. "Flower Spiral Evolution!" she yelled her attack. In that instant red petals flew toward the sisters. Zenon raised her hand, and the petals fell to the ground. "WHAT? WHY DIDN'T IT WORK?' Bella asked herself.

"Now its my turn." Alex began to say, as she stood up from where she was perched.

Zenon placed a hand on her shoulder. "Not yet. I'm the oldest so I go first."

"Not a chance." Alex rolled her eyes.

"Nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry." Sailor Mystique said. She was soon followed in by Sailor Blossom, and Sailor Beauty.

"The Sailor Scouts." The sisters proclaimed in unison.

"Sailor Sea finish book worm off for me." I heard Tuxedo Mask yell to me.

"Right." I summoned my Trident "Oceanic Trident Elimination!" In the spot where the red skinned creep stood, was now seafoam. In the center of the foam was a jewel that was once emerald, had turned black.

Zenon and Alex looked at each other in astonishment.

"We have another engagement." Zenon said.

"Don't worry we'll be back Sailor Scouts." Alex warned.

And just like that they were gone. The books that melted had gone back to their natural forms. The people were waking up, it seemed that their energy was restored.

"Why do you think they're draining peoples energy again?" Sailor Blossom asked us when we regrouped.

"Probably for their evil plot." Sailor Rose answered her.

"Tuxedo Mask where's Melody?" I had just remembered.

"She's safe. When Book Worm began sucking peoples energy, I took Melody outside as quickly as I could. Luckily she had already picked and checked out her books. I told her I came back in to find you."

I looked at my girls. "Thanks for the help Sailor Scouts. Hopefully, we'll soon find out who these strange siblings are and what they want."

"Let's hope so." Sailor Rose answered.

"You guys should change back before Melody comes in here to look for Derek and Ariana." Sebastian advised.

We all ran out the backdoor of the library and changed back. The girls left the scene together. "Don't forget we're suppose to meet up tomorrow!" Briar yelled over to me.

I nodded. Derek then laced my hand through his. "Mels waiting for you." He said. We walked out of the library, and spotted her sitting at a bench. She was holding her ball and I managed to hear her whisper "I hope she's ok."

"Melody." I said, standing behind her.

"Ariana!" She said turning her head. Her eyes growing wide when she saw me. She jumped off the bench and ran over to me. She wrapped her arms around my waist "I'm glad your ok. Did Sailor Sea save you?"

"She did, her and the Sailor Scouts." I heard Derek clear his throat, "Oh and Tuxedo mask too." I said through a giggle. "I'm glad you're alright. I was worried about you"

Melody dropped her arms. "You were worried about me?" she asked her voice going soft.

I Looked into her eyes. "Of course." She smiled at me. A smile that let me know she was happy. That she was kid.

"Hey how about we go to my place and order some chinese food?" Derek asked.

"Yeah! I'm hungry." Melody ran over to Derek and held his hand. She then looked at me, and nodded.

I knew that was the cue that I was now allowed to hold her hand. And that's how we went to Derek's apartment, hand in hand. All of us. Together.


	5. About a Girl

Dinner at Derek's went well. Melody and I set the table once the food had arrived. While we were eating Mel wanted to know what happened inside the library. She was curious about the Sailor Scouts, especially Sailor Sea. The thought that Sailor Sea might be her hero warmed my heart. So Derek and I told her, between mouthfuls of food, about how she saved me from one of the monsters, with the help of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask.

Once we had finished eating and cleaned up, Derek helped her with her report. I wasn't allowed near her project, she thought I was going to spill my tea all over her paper. So I just sat on the couch and read the books she checked out. I turned the pages one after the other reading little fun facts listed on the pages. There were beautiful pictures of the planets, and the constellations. Some older editions still had Pluto listed as a planet.

"Hey Derek would you mind helping me with building my outer space mobile?" Melody asked putting her stuff away in her pink backpack. She rolled her eyes towards me. "I'd ask Ariana but she'll probably break it somehow."

"Hey!" I shot her an offended look. Although I knew she was probably right. I still would have liked to help.

Derek chuckled. "Of course I'll help you Mel. How about you and Ariana come over next week and we can _both_ help you."

"Why does Ariana have to come?" Melody crossed her arms, and pouted her lips. I knew what card she was trying to pull, but jokes on her since Derek wasn't going to fall for it.

"She's my girlfriend, and I'm sure she really wants to help." He nudged her side trying to make her smile.

I knew he was going to side with me. Anyways, if there's one person who can persuade Mel to like me, its Derek. "You hear that? I'm his girlfriend." I emphasized, just to rub it in. "And yes I would very much like to help, even if its in a small way." I gave her a small smile so she knew that I genuinely would like to help her.

"Fine." was all Melody said, knowing she had lost the argument.

"Hey it's getting pretty dark out. Let me drive you guys home." Derek said looking into the night from his balcony. He stood up from the table and went to grab his keys.

Melody and I both grabbed our belongings and walked towards the front door, followed by Derek. We went out to the garage, and looked for his red car.

"There it is." He spotted it, as we walked towards it. He unlocked the car and we all got in. "Everyone have their seatbelts on?" he asked,starting the engine.

"Yup." Melody answered from the back seat. This was the first time she had been in his car. I could tell she was fascinated by it. She kept rubbing her hands on the seat, and pressing her face to the window.

Derek turned the radio on and let the music fill his car. We rode in silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. Halfway to my house I heard a small snore. I looked back, and realized that Mel had fallen asleep. "She looks adorable when she isn't trying to hurt my feelings." I muttered out loud as I continued staring at her.

Derek checked through the mirror. "I can tell she's conflicted about you."

"Conflicted?" I raised my eyebrow at him. "Nuh uh, she doesn't like me."

"That's not true. She held your hand twice today. She was worried about you when she thought you might be in danger. I just think she doesn't know if she can trust you. Anyways she likes Sailor Sea." he added.

"But she doesn't know I'm her. So that doesn't count" I shook my head in disagreement.

"Sailor Sea is an extension of you, it so counts. Just give her time, she'll warm up to you." He grabbed my hand for reassurance.

"You really think so?" I looked at him with hope in my eyes.

"Of course, what's not to like?" He smiled. Just then Derek pulled up to my driveway. We got out of the car.

"Thanks for the ride home. I'll see you soon." I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Do you want me to carry Mel?" He asked opening Melody's door.

"I've got it.' I put Melody's backpack on my shoulder and gently lifted her into my arms. She might be tiny but she definitely weighs a bit more than I thought.

I closed the car door and walked to my front door. Luckily my parents saw me, and had it opened. My mom wiggled the backpack off my shoulder.

"Here" my dad said reaching for Melody.

"I've got it, don't worry." I moved away from his reach.

I climbed up the stairs slowly, very slowly. I walked to the guest room and placed Mel on the bed. I took her ballet flats off and placed her under the covers. I watched her for a bit, debating whether or not to bring her into my room instead. I chose against it, I mean she was already settled into bed and I didn't want to wake her. Anyways she was probably tired of me being in her presence. I walked out of the room, bid her a silent goodnight and shut the door quietly behind me.

"Goodnight" I yelled to my parents. I was so tired, I was ready to go to sleep.

"Night!" I heard them from their room.

I literally changed into my sweats and a shirt and went to sleep.

I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Still being half asleep, I crawled back into my warm sheets, and realized someone else was in my bed. It definitely wasn't Sebastian. I yelled in fear. I turned the light on and turned the covers, it was Melody.

"Five more minutes mom." she said, still asleep.

I smiled, and decided not to do anything but to let her sleep with me. She wasn't bothering me. Also it made me a bit happy knowing she came into my room in the middle of the night. Maybe she _was _ warming up to me. I placed the covers over her, and went back to bed.

Unfortunately my parents walked into my room, the must have heard me yelling. Of course they automatically thought I was yelling at Melody, so they took her back into the guest room, but not before giving me extra chores for tomorrow as punishment. I didn't argue back, because if I did, my punishment would have been much worse.

The next morning, after breakfast, my mother had assigned me to dust the rug outside. I carried the ancient thing out, and began swatting it with a device my mom gave me. Jace came out to observe.

"Why didn't you just let her sleep with you?" he asked me with his arms crossed.

"I was going to, but then mom and dad barged in assuming the worst." I said irritated with the outcome of last nights situation.

"Uh huh sure." Jace wasn't buying it.

"I'm being serious." Why can't anyone believe I can be nice to the little squirt. I hit the rug hard in frustration, as I did so a cloud of dust wafted around my face, I coughed.

Jace and I then heard the door shut loudly. Melody was walking out of the house, hugging her ball. Her face looked upset. "Where are you going Melody?' I asked her warmly.

"Where I'm wanted!" she yelled at me and ran off into the street.

I jogged down the driveway. "You can't leave the house by yourself. Come back here!" but she was already out of sight. Ugh! Where could she be going? I thought she was done with the whole running away thing. She was doing really well.

I felt a small pinch on my foot. I knew who it was before looking. I grabbed Sebastian, and placed him on my shoulders.

"Ariana you have to be nicer to her." He suggested.

"I have been nicer to her." I whined. "Did you not see me carry her into the house. Or how I tucked her in last night?"

"Can't say that I have."

I rolled my eyes in disbelief. Of course he isn't there to witness my sweet moments with Melody.

"You have to go find her before she creates that weird beam again and calls the attention of those weird sister." He advised.

"But I'm suppose to be meeting the girls soon to go shopping, and I can't be late. Jade will probably yell at me. How about you go find her. Just call me on the communicator when you find her"

"She's not my responsibility Ariana." He looked at me with his little black beady eyes. " I expect you to do the right thing. She's probably all alone and afraid."

"She probably wants some space. Maybe she'll come back on her own." I said, knowing it wasn't true.

"I don't count on that happening. Come on let's go find her."

"Ok." I put him and down, and went inside the house for my shoes and to tell Jace I was going to go look for her. When I came back Sebastian was already gone. Probably took a head start.

I walked through town hoping to find Melody. I knew Sebastian hadn't found her yet, he would have called me on the communicator if he had. I kept walking into stores, and leaving disappointed when I found no trace of her. She must be upset about what happened yesterday. I guess I would be too. She must think that I don't like her. Is that what Derek meant when he said she was conflicted about me? I have to find a way for her to see that she can trust me. Once that happens, I might be able to help her get back home. And honestly that's all I want for that little munchkin. To be safe, and to be with her parents.

As I continued my search, I heard people muttering about a beam of light. I looked into the sky and saw the bright projection. It was coming from the train station, and then it vanished. That's her, she's close. I have to get to her before the weird sister do.

I ran as quickly as I could. _Oh Melody. _I hope she's alright. I received a few weird looks as I ran like a maniac, but I didn't care. All I cared about was Melody and her safety. If her beam went off that meant something was happening to her. I sprinted up the flight of stairs that led to the platform, I began to scan for her. But she wasn't there. _Oh god I hope she didn't hop on a train. _I looked up at the schedule, and saw that no train had left. _Phew, so she's still here, but where?_

I went back into town, and as I walked past an alley. I spotted a floating ball. _Its her! _ The worry melted away from me. She was safe. I quietly followed Mel into an empty work site to see what she was up to.

She sat in front of a stack of concrete blocks "Here's a good place to hide." she whispered, a bit out of breathe.

Hide? From what? No, from who? Were Leila and her sisters after Melody again? Next time I see them, things will not end well for them. If they want Mel they are going to have to go through me.

Melody hadn't realized I followed her so I decided not to pop out at her. I sat on the far adjacent side of the concrete block, crouched, hoping I could find out more about her, and see if there was anything I can do to help her.

"Oh Dash, I'm scared too. I should probably tell Ariana where I am, but she doesn't care. She didn't even let me sleep with her last night." She began to sob.

As I heard her cry, my insides dropped. I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. All I wanted to do was comfort her and let her know everything was going to be ok, and that I was honestly more than ok with her sleeping with me. If I was being honest with myself, I preferred her to, rather than having her sleep all by herself in the guest room. When we get home I'm going to let her know that my room is her room now too.

I decided to sneak a glance at her to check to see that she wasn't hurt. I saw her push the walrus nose on her ball. One of his eyes began to blur, and when it had gotten clearer, there was a muffled shape of a woman.

"Hi Melody." The woman spoke through the ball. She had a sweet but yet strong voice.

"Hi!" Melody wiped her nose, and cheered up.

"What's the matter darling?"

"I'm so lonely, no one likes me." Melody told her, drying the tears from her eyes.

"But you've made so many nice friends, remember?"

"I'm scared. These weird ladies are chasing me. They're after the Sparkling Sea Diamond too." her voice had a little quiver.

"They're from the Negasea." The woman's voice informed her. "They want to change the future so they can take over Diamond Marina."

The future? That's not possible, no one knows the future. And what about this Diamond Marina? What is going on? Who is this woman Melody is talking to? And why does her ball act like a phone? What kind of toy is that?

I heard Melody crying again. "What am I suppose to do? I haven't found the Diamond or my mother."

So her mother _is_ here. But who is she? Why hasn't she looked for Mel? Is her mother in danger?

"You're going to have to keep trying, darling. I know its hard for a little girl." the voice sympathized. I could hear in her tone that this woman really cares for Melody.

"Yeah, but Ariana, the girl I'm staying with doesn't like me. I can't do this anymore. Can't I come home without the Sparkling Sea Diamond? I miss home. I miss mom and dad. I miss everyone." she wept.

_Oh Melody. _My eyes began to water as I heard how hurt she was, and I wasn't making matters any better with the way I've been acting with her. She did think I didn't like her. I really wanted to go comfort her right now, but if I did she would hate me for eavesdropping. I just wish there was more I can do to help her. I can't give her the Diamond, but the best thing I can do for her is to make sure those sister stay away from her, and to find her mother. I silently vowed to myself that I would protect Melody at all costs from this moment on.

"Melody we miss you too. But it's safer for you to be here with the Sailor Scouts, where they can protect you. Just like they do in the future."

_The Sailor Scouts? _This voice knows about the Sailor Scouts? We protect Melody in the future? But why, and how far into the future? Is she someone important? Who is she really?

"Don't you remember little princess." the voice began to say.

Princess? If Melody's a princess, then that makes her mother a-

"In the future, they are the female warriors that will always protect you." The voice continued to talk, interrupting my train of thought. They are your loyal and true friends. Those warriors are the Sailor Scouts. They are fighting for a peaceful future, just as we are. You must put your trust in them and Sailor Sea. If you want to see your mother again you must remain here. Its the only way."

And just like that the voice had vanished and the eye of her walrus painted ball, had become an eye again. And not a silhoutte of a woman. Melody stood up from the spot she was crouched in and began to hug her ball. "Don't go." she whispered over and over again.

Hearing her conversation made me realize the troubles poor Melody was going through. She was in a new place. And to make matters worse she thought everyone around her didn't like her. But now I understood why she was here, and why she's after my Diamond. She's trying to save her mother. But what this woman was putting her through made me angry. Melody is just a kid, she can't be doing these types of missions. The amount of pressure to save her mother, must be exhausting.

"Found you!" I heard Leilas voice call out. "You're not getting away from me this time. "

Crap! She picked the worst moment to bully Melody. I'm all hyped up and ready to give Leila a good butt kicking. She is not going to mess with her as long as I'm around. I crawled away from my hiding spot and found a place to transform. "Sea Diamond Power!" As I had turned into Sailor Sea, I climbed a few steel barriers and yelled at Leila. "Leave her alone!"

"Sailor Sea." She spit my name out.

"That's right." I jumped from my spot and went to stand in front of Mel. "Come on Melody, we're out of here."

"I don't think so. And neither do my sisters." Leila called out. Her sisters then appeared all over the site. "Let us introduce ourselves."

"I'm Zenon." The girl with short blond hair called out. Her outfit continues to remind me of cotton candy.

"I'm Alex." Ponytail girl was sitting on top of a lamp post.

"My names Mitchie." The girl in the maroon dress smiled. She sat next to Alex, they looked a lot a like.

So thats her name. She was the one with Zenon on top of the building on the day of the storm.

"I'm Leila, but you already knew that. Now hand her over"

"Four against one, you don't stand a chance." Alex retorted.

"Then let's even the odds." I heard Sailor Rose's voice. Her and the rest of the girls walked towards Leila. The four sisters then stood by each other too.

"The Sailor Scouts." Melody whispered next to me.

"Well then it seems like we have a fair fight now." Alex looked at the Scouts.

Leila didn't hesitate to throw her blue fire towards Sailor Mystique. Jade's reflexes are fast so she quickly summoned her own powers.

"Sailor Sea get Melody out of here!" Mystique yelled.

"But you guys-" I began to say

Mitchie saw her window of opportunity and began the next fight. Sailor Blossom dodged her water currents that she was throwing towards her. Sailor Beauty took on Alex, and they both dodged each others powers.

Sailor Rose kept throwing flower petals at Zenon, hoping to slow her down.

"We can handle it! Go!" Rose instructed.

The Sailor Scouts are strong, but I knew they needed my help. These Four sisters were capable of fighting for a long period of time. But I couldn't just leave Melody to help my friends.

Then all of a sudden purple balls of energy were thrown to where Mel and I stood.

They exploded near us, debris flew everywhere. I protectively crouched in front of Melody, safeguarding her from the impact. I took most of the hit. The wind was knocked out of me and chunks of rocks hit my back, and scratched my legs. I felt the back of my uniform rip, and there were stings on the skin of my back.

I fell to the ground in agony. I heard the Sailor Scouts gasp at my collapse.

"Sailor Sea!" I felt a little hand on my cheek, wiping the dirt away. "Sailor Sea! Are you ok?" Melody sobbed.

"She will be once she gives up." I heard a deep, raspy male voice say.

I looked for the new person. And he appeared in front of us, floating. He wore light gray pants with dark gray stripes, and a matching vest. His hair was the same color of the dark gray stripes on his outfit. His eyes were a golden color.

"Face it you're no match for the Negasea.' He continued.

I stood up, ignoring my bodies protest, and brought Melody closer to me. Letting this new guy understand if he wants her, he's going to have to go through me. "Who are you?" I asked with anger in my tone.

"I'm Undertow. I live to see Crystal Marina under the influences of the Negasea. So I suggest..." He cupped his hands, and created the purple blobs in his hands, prepared to throw them at us. "You hand the kid over to me. I don't want to hurt you. But if you refuse I won't hesitate to throw these explosives at you again."

"Never!" I shouted at him.

"Have it your way." He smiled mischievously. And threw the purple balls of light.

I had enough time to scoop Melody into my arms and jump out of the way. The ground shook under us, but we were ok. I looked down to check on Mel. "Sailor Sea, don't let them take me." She begged, tears streaming down her face.

"I won't, I promise!" I yelled over the commotion. "I won't let anything happen to you ok?"

Another wave of those purple bombs were thrown at us. I jumped a second too late. Debris scratched my face and my arms. I lost sight of where I was going to land. All I felt was my back slamming against a concrete wall.

Melody rolled out my arms, when I hit the ground. "Sailor Sea?" she asked crawling closer to me. "Sailor Sea! Sailor Sea!" she began to shake me with panic. "Don't leave me! I need you! Don't go!" Tears stained her face.

"Ready to go Sea Brat?" Undertow appeared behind Melody. "We're wasting time."

"No." I said in a hoarse voice. I got up slowly, my body screaming in objection. "I'm not letting you, or anyone take her. No one takes her without facing me first." I pushed Melody behind me as I saw Undertow getting ready to fight me for her.

And then a rose struck the ground in front of him. Undertow jumped back in surprise.

"Bullying a child? How far will you go?" Tuxedo Mask asked him. He stood on top of a crane.

Undertow searched for his voice. When he laid his golden eyes on him, he summoned his exploding purple blobs, and threw them in his direction. "Lets find out."

Tuxedo Mask jumped from the crane and landed near Melody and I.

"Are you two alright?" He asked us concerned, looking at my cuts and scrapes.

Melody and I nodded.

"Sailor Sea.. I think you know what to do." Tuxedo Mask encouraged.

I did know what I had to do. I summoned my trident, that appeared in my hands. The energy that radiated from it helped me heal myself, and I was revived with pure energy. I swung it a bit and yelled out "Oceanic Trident Elimination!"

The power that shone from the trident was pure and strong. I pointed it towards Undertow. Somehow he had managed to dodge my attack. He appeared back in the sky, a bit unbalanced. It seemed that my attack did touch him a bit. There was a scratch on his arm.

"We're out of here!" he yelled. "Hurry up sisters!"

The fight between the Sailor Scouts and the Strange Sisters had come to a close. One by one the sisters began to disappear. I could tell the Scouts were exhausted, but they didn't let it show, not for a second. They focused their attention on Undertow who was the last to leave the scene.

I dropped my trident, and ran to Melody. I wrapped her in my arms. "Are you ok Melody? That was scary stuff. You were very brave, you know that?"

She then placed her arms around my waist and hugged me back. She felt warm against me. It was as if she was comforting me.

"Thank you for saving me. I'm sorry I put you in danger. It's all my fault." Melody began to blame herself.

"It was not your fault. This is what the Sailor Scouts and I do. We protect innocent civilians, which includes you. We're going to have to keep a closer eye on you though. The sisters mean serious business, and their bound to come back again. But the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask will protect you" I said stroking her black hair.

"You too?" she looked me in the eyes with longing.

I crouched down so that we were at eye level. "Especially me." I told her as I placed my hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

In that moment Melody's eyes began to water. Not because she was sad, but because she had finally found a group of people who care for her. I tried so hard not to let her know that I, Ariana, was Sailor Sea. I promise myself, right here right now, that I was going to be kinder to Melody. I wanted to let her know that Ariana cares for her just as much as Sailor Sea does. And I was going to prove it to her.

Melody leaped into my arms, and hugged me tightly. "You saved me. Those sisters were going to take me away, before I even found my mother." She looked at the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask. "I can't go home without finding the Sparkling Sea Diamond, and finding who my mom is." Melody wept into my chest. "I don't want them chasing me anymore."

"Oh" I sympathized, hoping no one heard my voice crack. Tears were forming in my eyes again, but I wiped them away. I held Melody in my arms for a long time. I rubbed her back as she tried catching her breath. Her little sniffles came and went."We'll help you find your mother Mel. We'll get you back home. I promise." I whispered into her ear over and over.

It was nice not having her yell at me for calling her Mel.

When she finally calmed down. She let me go. I felt strange, when she did so. She looked at the Scouts and thanked them one by one. Sailor Beauty couldn't help herself and hugged Melody. She looked a bit puzzled, which made me giggle. But in the end Mel hugged Beauty back.

When it was time to thank Tuxedo Mask, she ran to his arms. I did feel a little jealous. Not because she was hugging my boyfriend, but because it seemed that she liked him better than me. I was trying so hard to get this munchkin to like me. But I guess I was making progress, ever so slowly.

"Can I walk you home?" I offered Melody.

"It's ok. Ariana will probably freak out if I brought Sailor Sea home." Melody responded with a warm smile. "Thank you Sailor Sea. For everything." she waved as she left.

I watched her as she left. Until Jade interrupted.

"Ariana you might want to beat her home before she finds out who you really are." Sailor Mystique said, when Mel was out of earshot.

"What? Oh yeah. That's probably a good idea." I said cleaning myself up a bit. "We need to have a meeting tomorrow, all of us. You too Derek." And with that I jumped onto the roof and ran home. As I jumped from roof to roof as Sailor Sea, the idea of Melody coming here from the future isn't that far fetched.

I mean come on. I was a mermaid in my past life. I lived in the underwater kingdom of Atlantica. Now I am a Sailor Scout who saves the world with my best friends. That is a lot weirder than coming from the future.

Although, if Melody is a princess then that means that democracy later becomes a monarchy. I wonder how we made that jump.

I made it home before Melody did. I jumped and hid in an alley. I quickly transformed back and went inside the house to grab some Ice Tea from the fridge and two glasses. I went back outside and poured half of my glass, and the other I filled up. I sat on the porch waiting for Melody.

She slowed her pace when the house came into her view.

I made the first move. "Hi Mel-ody" I remembered that Sailor Sea was allowed to call her that, not me.

She looked at me with a confused look, but shook her head and took a seat next to me.

"Everything ok?" I asked her based on her earlier expression.

"It's just that you sounded like..." she stopped herself. _Oh no, don't make the connection. _"Nevermind. Have you been sitting here the whole time?!" she huffed. _Yes! She doesn't think I'm Sailor Sea_

"No I went looking for you." I told her honestly. " I saw you walking around town and decided I better give you some space. It's always better to clear your head by yourself." I offered her the tea I poured for her. She accepted it and gulped it down. "I see you're thirsty." I giggled. "Had fun in town today?"

"I guess you can say that." Melody swung her legs since her feet didn't touch the ground. She looked as if she was having a debate with herself. "Hey Ariana, could I ask you something?"

Sebastian came outside. "Hold on one second." I cupped him in my hands and placed him on the little table between Melody and I. "Ask away." I said getting back into my seat.

"Do you know Sailor Sea?" she blurted out.

I tried hiding my surprised expression."Not personally. I've heard a lot about her and the Sailor Scouts."

"Like what?" she asked curiously.

"Well that they're very brave, and loyal. I know Sailor Sea fights for love and justice."

"The Scouts fight for a peaceful future." Melody informed me.

"That's right. I think they're so cool." I could almost feel Sebastian face palming himself

"What about Tuxedo Mask?"

That one I didn't expect. "I heard he always shows up at the perfect time. That and he likes roses. I don't know what that means exactly." I pretended.

"He uses it as a defense against bad guys." Melody said a little bit too eagerly. "Or so I heard."

I laughed a bit. "Really?"

"Mhmm. Ariana do you think Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Sea are together?"

There's another one I didn't expect, and I could already feel my face turning pink. "Why do you ask that?"

"Well I've heard that" She began to say "Tuxedo Mask usually shows up right on time to save Sailor Sea when she gets a little lost. It's like he's her knight in shining armor. " _A little lost? What is she talking about? I don't get lost. I just freeze up for a few seconds. "_And whenever they look at each other they remind me a bit of my parents."

I smiled at Melody. "It's possible they could be together." I felt little butterflies when she compared Derek and I to her parents. Maybe one day we'll be parents too, but not anytime soon.

"Ariana why are you being so nice to me?" Melody asked, pouring herself another glass.

"I have been nice to you." I told her truthfully.

"Then what about last night huh?" she crossed her arms.

"Can I tell you about last night?" I asked her, which seemed to grab her attention. She gave me a small nod, and I continued. "I got up to use the bathroom and when I went back to bed I felt someone else in it too. So naturally I yelled. But when I saw it was you, I decided to let you stay. Of course with my bad luck, mom and dad came to my room and assumed I was yelling at you. Which by the way I wasn't." I told her.

Melody looked at the starry sky for a while. "I believe you." she said, finally looking at me.

"Thanks Melody."

"You can call me Mel... I guess." She sighed in defeat

My eyes lit up. "Really?"

She nodded and gave me a smile.

We sat in silence sipping our tea, and looking at the stars. I got up from my seat, and went to lay on the lawn. The roof was getting in the way of the stars. I placed my hands behind my head. Melody followed. We layed there again admiring the night sky.

"Melody can I ask you something."

"Sure."

"Why did you sleep in my bed? I mean it's totally ok. There doesn't have to be a reason."

"Well, I've been having nightmares. And whenever I have nightmares, my mom or dad come into my room to comfort me. And for some reason, I came to you."

"From now on you can come to me Mel ok?" I said placing my hands against my sides.

Melody's small hand slipped into mine.

"Ok." She agreed.

I turned to face her. "So tell me about your nightmares."


End file.
